Face of the Day

This one's quite similar to a look I posted the other day - a greeny shimmery gradient across the eye, and a natural everyday feel. However the key differences are the use of blue on the outer corner rather than a gunmetal grey in the crease, and a gold lip stain instead of a nude lip gloss.

This lip stain is really unusual and pretty - It's a semi-opaque bronzey gold with an almost foil-like effect. You can wear it on bare lips or layer it to add a gold leaf effect to any lip look.

Products Used:
Face:

Bobbi Brown Extra Repair Foundation in Honey

Elf Blush in Gotta Glow

MeMeMe Blush Me in Coral

Eyes/Brows:

Too Faced Shadow Insurance Primer in Candlelight

Collection 2000 Fast Stroke Eyeliner in Black 

Miners Love Phat Liner in Bandit

Benefit High Brow Glow

Elf Cream Eyeliner in Coffee

Coastal Scents 88 Metal Mania Palette

Famous by Sue Moxley Eye Collection in No Dull Moment 

Benefit That's Real Mascara

Lips:

The Body Shop Lip and Cheek Stain in 02

Making Mistakes

So, I went to a party the other day - well, more like a gathering - and I was doing my make-up ready to go, and it wasn't going well. I tried a purpley look and it just looked smudged and ridiculous - so I removed it all and started again. I eventually settled on a boring bronzey-black eye look.

I paired it with a Maybelline 18-hr Superstay Lipstick thingy - a very grown up plum colour which I instantly knew was too dark. Not only is the colour quite dark, its also neutral-verging-on-cool (which makes it look more dramatic on my skin), and it has a muted dusky quality that makes it look "serious"... Basically not a good match. 

Also, I thought skipping blush might be a good idea to avoid looking too heavily made-up, but every time I do it just makes me looked washed out and just accentuates the dark make-up. The lesson here is - a good blush will give a warm natural flush to your face and make you glow - in a very good way.

Much better! I added in a pop of pinky-rose blush and swapped in the Maybelline stuff (which was really hard to get off!) for my trusty pink-nude American Apparel lipgloss.

Doing this freshened up my whole look and made it look less dramatic and more casual!

Coastal Scents Metal Mania Palette - A Review

I know I've already mentioned this palette, but I thought I'd do a full post on it.

The finishes are all the same - they're all metallic/shimmery eyeshadows, and there's 88 of them.

As you can see, it's a very warm-toned palette so I think those with neutral/cooler-toned skin would find it hard to make this palette work well for them. I also think it suits medium skin tones the best - fair skin tones would find it hard to make the deeper colours work, and dark skin tones might get a bit bored of the extensive range of champagnes/pale pinks/lilacs.

It's called Metal Mania - supposedly a wide range of metallic shades - however the focus is very much on natural shades. It's almost like an extended Naked palette... There's a lot of bronzes, browns, champagnes, peaches etc. There are a few brighter shades thrown in - the greens and blues show up much more vividly on the skin than in the pan.

The eyeshadows themselves are quite powdery and dust kicks up easily when swirled with a brush. There's a bit of fallout but it's not too bad, and they are very pigmented, smooth and blendable.

In terms of wear-time, they're not all the same. Some have been fine, even without a primer, for about 6/7 hours - minimal fading and no creasing. There's a couple of colours - notable the more "unusual" ones - green/blue/purple - that I've found crease and migrate quite easily, even with a primer.

I'm giving this palette a 7/10 - it's good if you're looking for a cheap way to add a lot more colours into your collection and if you love shimmery eyeshadows, however the quality is not always there.

Face of the Day - Bronzey!

Here's a very warm-toned bronzed/red look I wore out the other day to match my tan coloured faux leather mini dress :)

On the eyes I wore a bronze colour over the lid, with a pop of champagne in the inner corner, and a wash of warm shimmery red in the outer corner and crease - not blended out that much to create a winged eye shape, accentuated with flicked out liquid liner.

I matched it with a peach cheek colour and a nudey-pink lip gloss.

Products Used:

Face:

Bobbi Brown Extra Repair Foundation in Honey

Elf Blush in Gotta Glow

MeMeMe Blush Me in Coral

Eyes/Brows:

Too Faced Shadow Insurance Primer in Candlelight

Collection 2000 Fast Stroke Eyeliner in Black 

Miners Love Phat Liner in Bandit

Benefit High Brow Glow

Elf Cream Eyeliner in Coffee

Coastal Scents 88 Metal Mania Palette

Lips:

American Apparel Lipgloss in Intimate

Face of the Day - Coastal Scents Metal Mania

I recently acquired a Coastal Scents Metal Mania Palette. This is 88 eyeshadows, all with a shimmer/metallic/frosted finish. The shades are mostly warm naturals - a lot of browns, taupes, pinks, creams. There are also a few blues and greens tossed in there too though, and that's what I used for this look. 

I patted a metallic green over the lid and added a cream/yellow on the inside corner and a blue on the outside corner. Then I used a gunmetal grey colour in the crease and blended out.

Wearing a strong eye look like this in the day means everything else has to be downplayed - I used a little flush of coral blush and a pink-nude lipgloss.

Products Used:

Face:

Bobbi Brown Extra Repair Foundation in Honey

Elf Blush in Gotta Glow

MeMeMe Blush Me in Coral

Eyes/Brows:

Too Faced Shadow Insurance Primer in Candlelight

Rimmel Soft Kohl Eyeliner in Jet Black
Collection 2000 Fast Stroke Eyeliner in Black 

Miners Love Phat Liner in Bandit

Benefit High Brow Glow

Elf Cream Eyeliner in Coffee

Coastal Scents 88 Metal Mania Palette

Lips:

American Apparel Lipgloss in Intimate

Face of the Day - Finally!

I haven't updated in ages because I've been so busy with work... but my job's over now so hopefully I'll have more time from now on :)

This look is a dark grey/black metallic smokey eye. For the lips I used a cool brown OCC Lip Tar. I like the effect of the cool toned colour on my warm skin - it slightly washes me out, but in doing so adds understated drama to the look. In order to counteract the washing-out effect, I used a flush of natural warm peach blush on the cheeks.

Products Used:

Face:

Bobbi Brown Extra Repair Foundation in Honey

Elf Blush in Gotta Glow

MeMeMe Blush Me in Coral

Eyes/Brows:

Too Faced Shadow Insurance Primer in Candlelight

Rimmel Soft Kohl Eyeliner in Jet Black
Collection 2000 Fast Stroke Eyeliner in Black 

Miners Love Phat Liner in Bandit

Urban Decay Naked Palette - Creep and Gunmetal

Benefit High Brow Glow

Elf Cream Eyeliner in Coffee

Lips:

OCC Lip Tar in Kava Kava

Nails!

I've never been crazy about nails - nail polish has never excited me like it does some people, and I don't have the compulsion to collect tons of different shades like I do for, say, lipgloss...

That said, my friend brought her entire (extensive) nail polish collection round the other day, and I took advantage of the opportunity to try out something pretty and exciting.

This is the result:

It's hard to capture, but hopefully you get the idea.

I layered a sheer blue polish with big glitter circles over a sparkly green/blue nail polish. It's hard to see in the photo, but the shimmer and light reflecting off the glitter is really pretty!