Eye Tutorial - Sephora+Pantone Universe Color of the Year Eyeshadow Quad

Earlier I posted about the Sephora+Pantone Universe Color of the Year Eyeshadow Quad.  After playing with the colors, I came to a few conclusions:

1 - The colors are soft in texture, easy to pick up with an eyeshadow brush, and blend easily.
2 - The colors are very pigmented, except for the orange color.  However, that one is the color that probably scares most people away from the palette, so it is good that it starts off very soft and wearable.  The color was very easily built to a more vibrant shade that I prefer.
3 - For 9 bucks, you really can't beat this palette for quality or quantity.

Would you like to see how it looks when worn?  Yes?  Alrighty!

How do you do it?

1 - Bare lid.

2 - Lid with primer.

3 - Carnelian (orange shade) all over lid, and up to brow bone.  I used several layers to bring up the intensity.

4 - Carnelian (orange shade) over entire lower lid, joining the upper lid at outer corner. Several layers.

5 - Sparrow (dusty plum) in outer corner, then pull the color from there to blend the crease, fading to no purple at inner corner.  One light layer.

6 - Pavement (black with multi-sparkle) on lower lash line, starting below center of pupil, and waterline starting from same point.  Fade outer corner to meet Sparrow. One light layer.

7 - Scallop Shell (ultra-pale nude pink) over brow bone and in inner corner and side of nose bridge. One light layer.  Add mascara!

8 - Done!

Multi-Review! Garnier, Tarte, Hard Candy

Today I have a multi-product review of Garnier's BB Cream, Tarte's Natural Cheek Stain, and Hard Candy's Glamoflauge.

First, a bare face.

I don't have a whole lot to cover up, so I mostly look for foundations that will just even out my skin tone a little bit.  I don't have any problems going completely without foundation if I'm not in the mood to fiddle with it, and I'm fortunate enough to have clear skin that looks just fine bare (I think so, anyway).

I am finding more interest in corrective measures, such as wrinkle prevention, spot correctors/skin whiteners, and pore minimizers.  From the chatter I've heard, the BB Creams from Korea are the best for these purposes, but before I knew that, I tried out Garnier's BB Cream, Skin Renew Miracle Skin Perfector in Light/Medium.  So, it's more of an ultra-thick tinted moisturizer.  It has sunscreen in it, and it is moisturizing.  It also feels heavy and greasy if you put on too much.  All you should need is a pea-sized amount, dot it around your face, and then rub it in.  Seriously, really rub it in.  Any skin-perfecting, airbrush finishing is going to come from filling in the pores with product.  Yep, it sounds gross.  But hey, it's skin, we've all got it, and most of us have the same issues with it.  So put on your first layer, and then let it set for a few minutes.  If you want it to help conceal large pores, take a teeny-tiny amount, and apply it to areas that didn't smooth over as well as you would like.  Then really rub it in.  You are kind of spackling it up, honestly.

The finish is dewy, but not glittery.  I like dewy, and I like glittery, too.  If you want a matte finish, you will need to set it with powder.  My nose tends to get oily throughout the day, so I blot it with plain tissue paper, and it doesn't disturb the cream.  I have been using this product for about 3 weeks, and I have not noticed any benefits that last after I remove the cream.  So, I do like it, but it really is just a thick tinted moisturizer.

Here's a pic with just the BB Cream added to the bare face from above.  There's not much difference in the photos other than an evened out skin-tone.  In person, you would see that the pores around my nose have been concealed.

Now, I do have a bit of darkness under my eyes and along the bridge of my nose.  That's what you get when you have an infant in the house.  Today the dark circles weren't so bad, but man, you should have seen it on Monday.  Yikes.  Anyway, to combat the dark circles, I use Hard Candy's Glamoflauge Heavy Duty Concealer in Medium.  Does it work?  Holy smokes, does it ever!  This stuff stays in place all day long.  It only takes a teeny, tiny, little itty bitty bit to do each eye.  It was designed to cover up tattoos, so your dark circles are no match for this stuff!  I apply it under my eye, along the bridge of my nose, and then I blend it down the side of my nose, the part where my cheek meets my nose, and then the top of the cheekbones.  Basically, it's just thinning the product out to nothing so that you don't have reverse-racoon eyes.  I usually only use this concealer on days when my circles are super-dark.

And there is a picture of my face after applying the Glamoflauge.

Finally, we get to my new favorite blush, Tarte's Natural Cheek Stain.  I have the shade "Blissful".  It is a peachy coral shade, with tones of pink.  I apply it with a stippling brush (realTechniques brand), and it goes on so easily.  You can build up to the intensity you prefer, and I recommend that you build it up slowly, as it doesn't come off easily.  Well, it washes off just fine, but you'll be taking off your foundation, too.  So do build up your intensity slowly.  This blush also has a nice fragrance to it; to me it smells of mandarin oranges.  I don't know how long the scent lingers, because I am not overly sensitive to fragrances.

I have never liked blushes.  When I first started wearing makeup, I would wear blush, but I always thought it looked so fake, so powdery, so cakey.  I abandoned blush for years, only using a dark shade to contour the hollows of my cheeks.  With cream and gel blushes (Tarte is a gel), I can blend the color into my skin, and the look is much more natural.  My aim with foundation, blushes, and contouring powders isn't really to change the way I look; I just want to perfect it a little bit.  With that said, here is a picture of all the above, plus Tarte's Natural Cheek Stain in Blissful:

And finally, with the rest of my makeup applied:

Five Minutes and a Sharpie

Ok, so not quite.  But, Cari asked what to do with five minutes and a sharpie, and since it was in relation to makeup and not silly things to draw on your husband while he's sleeping, here we go!

Once again NYC is making an appearance.  I swear to you I have a ton more makeup to review, but dang it, they make good stuff.  And it's cheap.  So it's cheap good stuff.  Today we have NYC Smooch Proof LipStain 16H, in Champagne Stain.  I'm assuming that "H" in the "16H" means "hours", but I can't say that it lasts quite that long.  I'd say you'll get a good 4 hours out of it with regular eating and drinking, and then you'll need to reapply.  But they are less than $5 a pop, and they look a lot like a Sharpie (hahaha! see what I did there???)

I was expecting this color to be a pale peachy pink, but it turns a dark berry on me.  Then again, keep in mind that my natural lip color goes from a plum at the lip line, to a dark berry, to a peachy pink, to a very pale peachy pink.  It's weird, and I'll take a picture one of these days to show ya'll the craziness.  So anyway, Champagne Stain looks like a berry color on me.  I topped it off with a bit of clear gloss.  Apply the clear gloss to your finger, and then smear it on your lips with your finger.  Then you won't transfer any color from your lip to your clear gloss still in the tube. Yeah, that seems obvious, but it took me forever to figure that out.

Here is my five-minute look:

I think it's not so bad.  I used:
Face:
-Garnier Skin Renew BB Cream in Light/Medium
-NYC Sun 'n' Bronze Bronzing Powder in Hamptons Radiance (for all around the edge of my face)Wet N -Wild ColorIcon bronzer in Ticket To Brazil (NOTE: This was a perfect bronzer for me when
I was tan.  Now that the tan has faded out, I use a TINY bit of this in the hollows of my cheeks, and I use it liberally for contouring my nose.  I have a huge nose.)  Today, I also used this as my eyeshadow!
-NYC Blushable Creme Stick in Berry New Yorker

Eyes:
-Merle Norman Luxiva Crystal Eyes in Diamond Girl (brow bones and inner corners of eyes)

-Cover Girl Brow and Eye Makers in Midnight Brown to fill in my eyebrows

-Rimmel Scandaleyes Mascara in Extreme Black

Lips:
-NYC  Smooch Proof LipStain 16H, in Champagne Stain
-Body Shop Clear Lip Gloss

Wow, that sure does look like a lot of stuff, but it went on quickly.  Because I used bronzer for my eyeshadow, and I didn't bother with any eyeliner, the eyes went super-quick.  The mascara took the longest, and I think part of that is because I haven't used that mascara before, so the wand was messing with me.

So there are a few more pictures.  By the way, it is a TRUE 5-minute look, because my hair only took 25 seconds to do.  I did a fully-rolled sock bun last night, so I just took down the bun this morning, ran my hands through it a few times (to get any loose hairs out of there), and I was done.  I'm not going to do a tutorial on it, because it wasn't my idea, but here are the links to where I learned how to do it!  It will probably take you a few times to figure it out, and to get the curls to look right when you take your hair down, but you'll get the hang of it, and then you will have an extra hour in the morning!

Watch this one first.

Then watch this one!

And, if you want to watch her do it one more time... watch this one!

Smoky Eye

Cari asked for an eye tutorial, and I aim to please, so here we go!

This one is for a smoky eye.  You can do it up heavy for going out, or tone it down for the office.  So, it's really two looks in one!

First, the tools:

Bare Minerals Glimmer Eyeshadow in Celestine
Bare Minerals Eyeshadow in Skyline
Bare Minerals Glimmer Eyeshadow in 1990's
Merle Norman Luxiva Crystal Eyes in Diamond Girl
Sormeh by Mosha Katani in Black
Bare Escentuals eyeshadow brush for Smoky Eye
Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-on Eye Pencil in Zero
Rimmel Volume Accelerator Mascara in Extreme Black

Ok, start by applying Celestine to the area above your lid, but not all the way up to your brow bone. Go ahead and get the inner corners of your eyes, too.  Now put Diamond Girl below your eyebrow down to where you stopped applying Celestine.  Put a hefty dollop of it at the inner corner of your eye.  Blend lightly.

Now, take a bit of Skyline, and apply to the lid ONLY.  Take some time and really smudge it in there.  You want to have a light layer of this, because the better you can work it onto your lid, the less creasing you'll have later.  I smudge mine for about 30 seconds each side, and it never creases on me.  You want to make it a bit darker on the lid closest to your nose.  Try to not make the very center too dark.  If you leave it a little bit lighter it will brighten up your eyes.  I'm not explaining the effect it gives very well, but just try it, and you'll see.

See how subtle that looks?  We are going to be putting a lot of color on our lids, so we don't want to go all crazy with the base here.  Ok, now take some more Skyline, and smudge it in on your lower lid.  Your ENTIRE lower lid.  For as long as there is a curve, smudge that sucker.  You can make it fade out lighter the closer you get to your cheek, but a fantastic makeup artist guru that I practically worship has advised me to shadow the entire lower lid.  She said do it, I did it, and it looks 100 times better than when I stayed super-close to my lash line.  It makes your eyes look bigger.  Ok, so smudge away.

See?  That's not so scary, now is it?  Alright, now you are going to take that eye pencil in Zero and line your top lid's water line, and push it into the lash line up there.  Then, take your 1990's and smudge it into your outer corner, and blend just a little bit.  (DO IT IN THAT ORDER!!!  You want the pencil to have some cleanish skin to grab on to, so do the pencil first!)  Go ahead and trail the brush through your eye crease, too.  It'll give a little bit of unity to the look.  Try to not blend too much, though.  It'll end up being all the same color if you blend for too long.  You want to blend where the colors meet each other, not the whole eyelid all together.

See how the sections are distinct, but the boundaries are kinda blurry?  That's what we're going for.  Now, I think you can substitute any of the items that I'm using, except for this next one.  It's Sormeh by Mosha Katani, in Black.  There is no substitute.  Trust me, I've looked and looked for a product like this, and this is the only one out there.  It won't crease, it won't run, it won't look harsh, you just have to get it and use it, and that's just the way it is, ya'll.  Ok, so you take some Sormeh, and smudge it into your upper and lower lash line.  Use it on your waterline, too, both top and bottom.  Go ahead and add some more.  No, no, I mean it, don't be shy.  Ok, now smudge it down a little bit on your lower lid.  Now smudge up a bit from your lashline on your upper lid.  This is where we are going from wearing grey eyeshadow to having a smoky eye.

Aren't we pretty?  Ok, add some mascara.  Go ahead and add another coat of mascara if you want.  False eyelashes are fun too!  I'd put some on, but I'm doing the Latisse thing, and I want to not wear falsies while testing it out.  Oh, crap, I have fallout.  Did you?  Well, here is a super-secret trick... wipe the area clean with a baby wipe.  Now take a bit of concealer/brightener (I used Maybelline DreamLumi Touch Highlighting Concealer in Beige) and paint the area back all pretty, gently pat it to blend, and there you go, no fallout!

Now, you see why we didn't go bonkers with those first layers?  Once it all gets on there, we got DARK!  Now it's time for some margaritas with the girls!!!

Oh, wait a second... it's still worktime.  Shoot.  Well, let's tone this down a bit.  How?  Easy peasy!  Take a clean, dry napkin, and wipe once, firmly, from your nose to the end of your eye.  Not crazy firmly, but you are trying to take off a layer of color.  Do not go in any other direction.  Because of the way we put on our colors, if you go horizontally from nose to outer eye, you won't cross a dark color over a lighter color.  If you need to swipe again, USE A CLEAN TISSUE.  You don't want to muddy your colors, just take a bit of it off!!!

So here we go, toned down a bit...

See?  Still super-pretty, still sexiest gal in the office (haha!), but not too dark.  Ok, one more pic...

Just to note, you see that really faint winged effect?  That came from using the baby wipe to clean up the fallout.  Awesome, huh?  It really is the best way I've found to have a super-clean soft wing, and it is almost zero effort to get it.

Review! Real Techniques Stippling Brush

I went to my local Ulta yesterday and picked up a Real Techniques Stippling Brush.
I've recently abandoned powder blushes and have begun a love affair with cream and gel blushes. Powder blushes were leaving my face looking cakey and overly powdered, and it seemed to age me dramatically. I tried out a cheap cream blush (E.L.F. All Over Color Stick in Pink Lemonaid), figuring I would get the general idea and only have to spend a buck. Well, I was SOLD! I've been using my fingers to apply it, and while that works just fine, I wanted to get a brush to both cut out the time scrubbing my fingers clean and to branch out to more cream and gel blushes. I think the brush works great. It takes a bit longer than using my fingers (but that may be a learning curve), but the brush is comfortable to use and seems to be very well made.
 
So, for today's makeup, I used:
 
Face: Wet N Wild Ultimate Sheer Tinted Moisturizer in 182 Natural (everywhere except cheekbones); Hard Candy Glamoflauge in Medium (undereye, sides of nostril); Maybelline DreamLumi touch highlighting concealer in beige (bridge of nose, inner corners of eyes, face on sides of nose, bow of lips); Aveda Inner Light loose powder (everywhere except cheeks); Wet N Wild coloricon bronzer in Ticket To Brazil (hollows of cheeks); E.L.F. All Over Color Stick in Pink Lemonaid
Eyes: Urban Decay 24/7 eyeliner in Zero; Sormeh by Mosha Katani; Rimmel Volume Accelerator mascara in Extreme Black; Covergirl Brown and Eye Makers in Midnight Brown;  Maybelline Ultrabrow in Light Brown
Lips: Covergirl Outlast Lip Stain in Plum Pout (425); The Body Shop Born Lippy Strawberry Lip Balm Clean Face: With Makeup: