Pearl-iscious
photo credit: maybelline.com
I'm digging the new ads for
Maybelline's Color Sensational Pearls Lipstick. I'm thinking of picking up a few tubes to try out, but thought I could re-create the look with two of my favorites products. One's an oldie: Stila High Shine Lipcolor in Diane. The other's a newbie: Korres' Lip Butter Glaze in Pomegranate.
Both formulas are very moisturizing (a neccessity in this butt-freezing Bay Area weather) and both impart *just* the right touch of color to be be equally useful in daytime and nighttime scenarios.
I started my blending experiment by dabbing Diane on my whole lip -- not necessarily being neat about it, either. One thing I love about pearly, glossy color is that it can be applied haphazardly and it actually looks better that way. Then I applied a dot of the Lip Butter Glaze in the middle of my lower lip.
Then smeared the colors together with my fingertips. And voila! Pinky, pearly color. I'll compare the wear-time of this combo with a tube of Maybelline's Color Sensational Pearls, and will holla back!
Labels: Korres, Maybelline, Stila
49'er Red
My stress levels at work build to a breaking point each week. So by the time I reach Friday all bleary-eyed and delirious, lots of "let loosing" ensues. And it continues through the weekend. I'll probably have to correct this behavior at some point, but for NOW, this is just the type of therapy I need. Two weekends ago, I indulged in an event thoroughly soaked in rain and a lil bit of alcohol - the San Francisco 49'er/Oakland Raider Tailgate. And in the spirit of super fandom, my tailgate outfit came complete with the perfect shade of deep 49'er red: Buxom Big & Healthy Lip Stick in "Fresno" layered with Buxom gloss in "Brandi." I also gave a nod to the gold by highlighting my cheeks with my favorite Stila powder seen
here.
Thought these shades were good luck since my boys finally broke their losing streak that week ... but then they proceeded to lose the following Sunday. Guess ya can't win 'em all.
This pic doesn't exactly show the true color of the products, so I swatched them for you below.
Post-game Fantasy League'ing ... and Domino.
Labels: Bare Escentuals, Buxom, Stila
Ballerina Bombshell Bridesmaids
...Holding Butterfly Bouquets! I had the honor of being in a 10-year wedding anniversary this past weekend (like I said...every other weekend) and I have to say, except for my yucky tanlines, I felt pretty freaken cool walking down the aisle looking like a ballerina bombshell. My personal style is very California casual, so when the bride asked for puffy skirts and vintage updo's, I was doubtful I'd be able to pull it off. But with help from a few friends with miracle hair powers, a skirt color that could do no wrong, and with my gloss addiction, everything came together very nicely. Seriously, everyone looked super cool -- I may have to do a part 2 post when the reception pictures are available.
On my eyes: TONS - Too Faced Lockdown base, MAC Eyeshadow quad (borrowed and don't know the colors...but they were all purple-centric), Korres Plum Eyeshadow and MAC Lashes #7
Face: Tarte Park Avenue Princess Bronzer, Stila All Over Shimmer #2, and NARS Super Orgasm Blush
Lips: MAC gloss in Ban This (we ALL used this :)
Labels: MAC, Nars, Stila, Tarte, Too Faced
Summer Highlights
I'm currently taking a week to wash my brain before I start a new job next Monday. I'm in staycation mode, finally getting caught up on organizational projects around house, getting to the gym on a regular-ish basis, getting Domino used to his new "to-go" house and creating looks I can wow all my new co-workers with!
I've spent a lot of time experimenting with highlighting. My face is not angular by any means. It's sort of the polar opposite - anything that can be smoothed over, is smoothed over. This means I have to do my fair share of conturing and brightening to really pop in pictures. My favorite tool of the highlighting trade is Stila's "All Over Shimmer" powder in #2, coupled with a MAC eyeshadow blending brush (for me, less bristles make it easier to pinpoint what I want to highlight). The Stila powder is no longer available, but [
this] Stila powder should be comprable, and looks even easier to use. I dust this down the bridge of my nose, then create a sideways "V" (looks like <) down my brow bones and across my cheek bones.
The pigment is pretty intense:
Here's a picture of me in a room with little natural light (you can still see the shimmers):
And here's the effect in a room fully-flooded with natural light (shimmer holds up well even when it's washed out):
If I piqued your interest in Dom's to-go house, here he is in it! My new office is pet-friendly so he'll be making the trek with me to San Francisco once in a while ... can't wait to have my little sidekick with me at work!
Labels: MAC, Stila
Put A Ring On It
Lately, I've been on the lookout for cool turquoise rings. Along with my new-found openness to brighter hued glosses, I think it's just another side effect of severe summer fever. This weekend was a gorgeous one in the SF East Bay, and I felt especially inpsired. To embrace my inner sun goddess, I experimented with stacking these two rings (long one is vintage, teardrop is from Target) and trying on a new eyeliner look. This is
Sephora's Nano liner in Silver Green, courtesy of their Birthday freebies for Beauty Insiders. Paired with my new rings, it has a cool, sea-breezy effect. I'm also still experimenting with my Stila Smile in Style set. In these pictures, I'm sporting the Fruit Punch color.
Labels: Sephora, Stila
Beauty Steal of the Week
As I've said before, I'm a sucker for 'variety' kits. So when I stumbled on this Stila set on SUPER sale at Urban Outfitters, I had to throw it in the bag. Stila is the Queen of buttery lip products and in this set, you get five perfectly textured lip glaze sticks and a sharpener for the price of less than one - $9.99 baby! (You have to buy it in stores to get it at this price...sells for $18
in their online store). The lip glaze sticks are wonderful for a hint of bright color, which makes them a great summer product.
Of the five colors, I immediately tried Berry, Plum and Peach. Here's pretty Berry:
And demure Plum (not really my style, but I'll keep this handy for backup):
And my personal favorite, Peach. I've always been a fan of this color ever since I bought it 5 years ago in lipglaze form. I think I like the glaze stick even better because I can control how much product is applied on my lips:
So now I'm feeling Peachy-keen in my glasses and am signing off so you addicts can run to UO to scoop this up, too!
Labels: Stila
Love You Back
I know I've talked the whole 'OMG I'm turning 30' thing to the ground on this blog, but as each of my friends turns 30 one by one, I get a little emotional and puffed up with pride. Last weekend, my friends and I got together to celebrate another 30th and I remember looking around the table at all these smart & vibrant individuals thinking -
we have seriously got it going on! None of us are severely rich, so I don't mean this in a monetary sense, I mean that we've all managed to grow up into responsible, respectful, hard-working adults and every one's positive transformation was contagious. We've had a positive influence on one another for sure.
One of my dearest friends (the nail savvy one I mentioned two posts ago, actually) shared a link to her latest photo album of pictures taken this weekend at the latest dirty30. Lots of fun. Lots of good makeup, too. Excuse the shine, as most of these were taken post-party!
Check those nails!
PLEASE NOTE: I took the picture below like this on purpose so you could see my eyeshadow. I LOOOOOOVE this shade. and I was NOOOOOOOOOOOOOT this faded!
Eyes: Too Faced eyeshadow, Label Whore // MAC#7 lashes
Face: NARS blush, Sin
Friend's Eyes:
Stila Smudge Pot
Friend's Nails: OPI X Sephora, Le Beau
Labels: MAC, Nars, Opi, Stila, Too Faced
Gloss Giveaway 1: Stila High Shine Lip Color
In the spirit of spring cleaning, I've decided to give away a tube of my favorite gloss ever -- Stila's High Shine Lipstick in Diane - shimmery champagne. Thanks to the panic-induced shopping spree I went on when this product was discontinued, I still have 4 unused tubes of it. I think I can
probably make-do with 3, so I'm giving one away!
Here's a shot of me with it on:
And a close-up of the actual product:
And a close-up on my lips:
First one to leave a comment on what my next Lyrics & Lipgloss challenge should be, wins! It can't be something that I've already attempted. So sorry, but I have to limit this to residents in the US :(
Labels: Gloss Giveaway, Stila
So Not Schooled in Shadows
Eye Makeup isn't my greatest strength, and I'm always sort of shy to post anything shadow-related on this blog. I'm not a master blender, and am happy to have 1 color on my lid, if it gets the job done. But I have to say that since starting up this blog, I've flipped through countless others for inspiration, and it's encouraged me to play with all the disregarded shadows hiding in the ... shadows of my stash. (COULD NOT resist that, and am pretty sure I could have come up with something better were in not for my current stabbing hunger pains). One such shadow is Bobbi Brown's Long Wear cream in Galaxy. I bought this a while back and first flaunted it in
this post. I've finally figured out that the formula goes on WAAAAAY better when you use a brush like this one from Stila. The pic below shows how pigmented this can get. I applied about 2 strokes of it on my lids using the brush. Here, I've layered it over Too Faced Lockdown in Dramarama. And at the encouragement of
Diane, I'm also sporting the Rimmel East End Snob gloss -- which is growing on me.
Labels: Bobbi Brown, Rimmel, Stila, Too Faced
In Rotation: Lips
While I love to sport reds when going out, my 'everyday' glosses & lipsticks tend to be nude or pink-toned. I have at least eight of these colors in rotation right now:
My ABSOLUTE fave of the bunch is Stila's High Shine Lip Color in Diane. It has a buttery non-sticky texture and the color is a pretty gold champagne.
As with all the gorgeous little things I fall in love with, Stila has discontinued this (rest assured I scooped up 6 tubes when I found this out), but I think their
Long Wear Lip Color in "Darling" is a pretty close match.
Another light-textured gloss is from Korres - their Cherry Lip Gloss in Light Purple 23 is a girly, fun color. Plus this stuff is SO moisturizing, I can actually use it as a substitute for lipbalm.
My go-to nude lipstick is MAC's Satin lipstick in Siss. While this definitely can NOT be a substitute for lipbalm, its sexy matte finish is unrivaled to anything I've tried (and I've tried enough nude lipsticks to open a store).
Labels: In Rotation, Korres, MAC, Stila
Work Hard, Party Harder
Last night was my office holiday party and as planned, I went for the red (the red, red). Also used my Blinking Cool lashes from MAC (my second faves after the #7's) and Stila shadow in Twig. I swear by creme shadows, but when I HAVE to use powders, I consistently reach for Stila or Too Faced. Stila's formula is silkier, but there are more color options from Too Faced. The two of them should get married and have kids.
ANYWAYS, our party was at the
MatrixFillmore -- a cool space in SF. Except for the glance or two towards the Tyson Beckford look-a-like bartender (who was gay) I was very well-behaved. I did, however, muster up enough liquid courage to hug a few folks that normally scare the sh*t out of me. That has to count for something.
Labels: MAC, Stila
Wedding Look #2
I am fresh from Puerto Vallarta, but wanted to post the second look that I put together (and unltimately ended up going with) for the wedding.
I am going through serious beach withdrawals, but am happy to be back in the Bay Area's beautiful mild weather. It was HOT & HUMID in Mexico. These beauties held up pretty well in the thick Puerto Vallartan air (MAC lipstick in California Dreamin, MAC Paint in Architechture to sculpt cheeks, Laura Mercier creme eyeshadow in Bronze, MAC Painpots in Quite Natural, Stila all over shimmer #2, Make Up Forever Aqua Eyes, Givenchy Gloss Interdit in Glamorous Fuscia):
I went with Fuscia lips because I thought they would show up better in picutres. I was right! Here is my headshot from the trial run (that's my cutie puppy Domino). Will post pictures from the wedding as soon as I can upload them.
Labels: Givenchy, Laura Mercier, MAC, Make Up For Ever, Stila
Wedding Look #1
So I'm off to Puerto Vallarta in a couple of days! I'm going to be the maid of honor in my friend's wedding. She's asked that all the girls use neutral brown eyeshadow and pair that with soft pink cheeks & lips. Sounds easy enough!
I have a few days to experiment with formulas to find the ones I like the best and that last the longest -- Puerto Vallarta is going to be hotter than a mother!
Here's practice look #1: Too Faced Lockdown (Bedroom Eyes), MAC Paint Pot (Quite Natural), Stila Shine Lip Color (Diane), Vincent Longo Pearlessence Lip/Cheek Gel Stain (Dolceacqua). These are all supposed to be super stay-put formulas. Let's see how they hold up. Here's how they look:
Here's how they look on me (I think I look worried because I'm thinking of ALL the things I need to do before taking off!):
Labels: MAC, Stila, Too Faced, Vincent Longo
