Smokey Bronze Eyes for the Holidays

Hello friends! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!!!!! I traveled home to see my family and it's been relaxing so far. I haven't been home on a weekday in ages! Going to bed and knowing I don't have to wake up for work is refreshing. Seeing my mom doing her everyday weekday things brings back memories of when I lived at home. We ate a lot and opened presents.

I did manage to create a look with my original Naked palette that day and I'm here to share it with you guys! I haven't touched that palette in so long but I'm growing back to loving it more and more since I'm limited to using that right now.

I swept Half Baked all over my lid and used a bit of Dark Horse on the outer V to create a shadow and Smog to line the outer corner of my eye. 

Half Baked is a really nice bronzey shade that works really well for people with brown eyes. It lightens it up and makes for a really flattering look. This combination is fool proof! I was really inspired by those Asian models' eye makeup. 

Bronzey eye shadow is great because the light reflecting pigments of the shade really brings out the warmth of brown eyes to the forefront.  And with that, a few coats of mascara and you're done!

How do you play up your eyes to bring them out, or rather, to make them pop? Please share your tips!    :) 

FOTD: Subtle Smokes, Pink Lips

In contrast to my last blog post, this look features a clean canvas - subtle smokey eyes, pink lips, clean skin. 

MUFE F&B Foundation

Chanel Rose Petal Blush

Dior Earth Reflections e/s Palette

MAC Black Track

Loreal Telescopic Mascara

Guerlain Kiss Kiss Gloss in #872

One of my favorite palettes from Dior - earthy and neutral with just the right amount of shimmer to create an ethereal, smokey or classic look

Guerlain Kiss Kiss Gloss in #872 - 

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you had a memorable one.

As per usual, mine included lots of grub. Food eating contest style! O_O

FOTD: Dark Red Lips

Hello readers!

I'm going to be doing a few looks for the holidays in the coming days and I'll be posting it as I go along. With Christmas around the corner and New Year's coming up, there are lots and lots of fun looks to create and makeup to be used. This year in particular, I've been smitten with dark red lips. On regular occasions, I don't dabble into dramatic lips because of my profession but I do love the intensity it creates with merely one lipstick.

So here's the look I did using Revlon's Black Cherry Lipstick. It is supposed to be dupe of Mac's Dark Side (which I picked up today! * squeal*).

Since the lipstick is on the drier side, I paired it with Revlon's Bordeaux to make it look glossier. 

Black Cherry is a deep red with purple undertones - vampy and gorgeous. Bordeaux is like its name, deep cherry tones.

It's an eye catching color, isn't it? I certainly feel more mature wearing it, if that makes any sense. 

Just with the lipstick on

Topped off with lip gloss

I love it! There's no other way to describe how much I love this combination. This combo lasted me all day today, for nearly 6 hours before I took it off. By then it was mostly a stain but it was still there by the time I came home. Really happy that it's low maintenance and easy. I wouldn't have it any other way =D

And here's the rest of the makeup I used to create the look. 

My little arsenal for today -

Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum in #52 - I'll have to do a comparison of the regular Healthy Mix and the Healthy Mix Serum one of these days. I absolutely love this foundation! It truly lives up to its hype. One of the best foundations I've ever used, hands down.

Milani HD Concealer in Light - I love this concealer! It has qualities like a brightening pen would and it's incredibly light-weight.

Of course, the dark lip duo! In general, I love Revlon lipsticks and lip glosses. Their whole range of lip products are inexpensive and versatile. You can find a lipstick for any occasion and it's always going to be budget friendly. I think one of the best lip glosses Revlon has made is this range here (Colorburst) and I've tried many of the shades, all too impressive. They're kind of my tried and true and something I'll always go back to. 

So that was my dark lip look for today. I'm hoping to get more holiday looks on the blog before Christmas so stay tuned! =) Thank you all for always stopping by to leave a comment and especially those who consistently leave me comments :) It's nice knowing there's people who actually read this thing! 

What do you guys think of bold lip colors? YAY or NAY? :)  

Sephora's Shimmer Harmony Gloss!

A lot of people are on one end of the spectrum when it comes to lip palettes - they either love 'em or hate 'em. I, on one hand, love them! There is something about a lip palette that speaks volumes with the different shades and textures. I guess in a sense, it channels my inner artist and makes me feel all artist-y to have one in my bag LOL. It makes applying lip color indulgent and I actually look forward to it. I love the meticulous way of brushing on the color, snapping the lid back on and tossing it back in my bag. In more simpler terms, it is FUN.

Usually during the holidays, lots of kits and palettes come out in various tins and cases. I don't like spending a fortune on lip products but I do like me some good quality, travel friendly kits. I bought the one from Sephora called the Shimmer Harmony Gloss because a) it was only $5.00!, and b.) I wanted shimmer and gloss.

The glosses are housed in a rectangular palette you see above ^^.  You can see that each shade is shown. 

Here is how it looks like after I opened it up. Obviously, I've used the colors! o_~ 

The palette has a little dip next to the mirror where you can actually mix colors! Doubt I'll ever do it but it's cool to have I guess! 

The little brush that comes along with the palette. It sits by the mirror but it's dainty enough. Personally, I love the brush! It makes applying the gloss really easy and the brush itself is soft and glides effortlessly. 

Swatch Board: These are not in order of the palette. The first two are shimmery clear-ish ones. The third one is a shimmery copper. I love that one! The pink and coral is also really pretty and the red is gorgeous! They're pigmented for glosses, that's for sure =)

#1 on swatch board - silver shimmers on clear gloss. Reminded me of snow and frost :)

#2 on swatch board - silver with a bit of gold on clear gloss. 

#3 on swatch board - the coppery shade with a tinge of gold. The shimmery flecks are just insanely pretty! Very very festive!

#4 on swatch board - creamy pink shade with silver shimmers. Very plush shade! 

#5 on swatch board - the shade i described as coral. It's more of a baby pink. Really subtle color but beautiful nonetheless.

#6 on swatch board - the pigmented blue based red gloss. It's an effortless, forgiving shade of red. I love the festive feel and the pretty shimmers.

Overall, I am very impressed with this palette. More so than I originally thought. I know there are really bad ones out there that feel dry and pressed. This palette is one of the best I've bought and one of the most inexpensive ones I've seen. You get a nice selection of 6 glosses and even the red one in itself is worth the $5 price tag :) It's small and dainty and I'm very much looking to use it during my holiday travels this year. 

The last I checked (yesterday), this palette went down from $5 to $3.00! It goes up and down and it's always in or out of stock, but they update it pretty frequently.

So that's my rave review on this palette. One of the best things I purchased this season, LOL! What about you, my friends? Do you like lip palettes? ^___^

Nars Lip Pencil in New Lover

I am in love with lip pencils. Why? Because they are genius! And very pretty and travel-friendly to own. The idea of a lipstick in pencil form is kind of new for me. I've always associated lip pencils with lip liners and lip liners to create extravagant lip looks (colors and/or textures) but most recently I noticed a slur of holiday buys that included jumbo lip pencils that are great for touch-ups, travel, and collecting.

The first one I ever tried is the Nars Velvet Gloss Lip Pencil in New Lover. It's just a very developed, gorgeous red that has very fine golden shimmers and a glossy finish.

Nars Velvet Gloss Lip Pencil - New Lover

I've lightly worn this here and it's extremely pigmented and super flattering. The golden shimmers give a fresh sheen to the shade and that alone really amps up the pretty factor! The color is really festive but subtle enough that it looks great without much effort. 

I also ordered a lip pencil from Ulta, a much cheaper version of the Nars pencil, to see how it compares texture-wise.

Ulta Lip Crayon in Valentine

Ulta Lip Crayon - Valentine

Nars New Lover

Essentially, I couldn't even tell the difference in shades when I was wearing them two different days! The Ulta crayon is a bit more deeper in color than New Lover but the two colors very much looked identical on me. New Lover is more golden. Valentine also had a pretty golden sheen to it as well, but much more subdue. Texture-wise, Valentine was more matte while New Lover was glossier. I'd say the Ulta lip crayons are a much more drier formula than the Nars but the pigmentation for Valentine is pretty impressive. 

Overall, I'm really in love with both pencils. My Ulta one was a steal at $2.99, but I do think they are going to discontinue this shade soon. Regularly, they are $8.00 each while the Nars one retails for $24.00 full size. The one I have is very close to full size but it was part of the VIB freebie thing that i got. $24.00 is pretty pricey! o_o

What are your thoughts on lip crayons/pencils? Are they worth your while? What other brands would you recommend? :)

EOTD using Sleek's Au Naturel Palette

I used Taupe all over the lid, followed by Bark and Regal to create a smokey-ish eye. The darker colors are definitely winners in this palette! :) 

If you haven't seen my review on this palette, it's the very last post. I'm kind of turning over a new leaf on this palette because I had originally thought the pigmentation was poor but now I see that even though it's subtle, it doesn't get lost in the eye lids. It still makes for a really pretty natural look for daytime. I'm going to try and create more looks with this palette.

In the meantime, I am getting started up on Facebook again. I realized I follow so many of you on FB and thought I really should interact more ^_^

I'd love it if you gals follow me on Facebook (here)

See ya there! ^_^

Swatching Sleek's Au Naturel Palette

Who can resist neutrals? I know I can't! Even with both Naked palettes in stow, my insatiable desire to collect neutrals is endless. I've wanted to buy Sleek eyeshadow palettes for a long time now but their iDivine palettes wouldn't ship here because of ingredients... so I waited. I'm glad I did because I bought it off eBay a few months later.

Sleek iDivine Palette in Au Naturel (Nude)

Lots of neutrals to choose from! A very basic palette with earthy colors and a smooth texture.

If you can't tell, this was heavily swatched. Nougat is a really nice soft white shade that brightens the eye and works great as a brow highlight. It was also surprisingly the more pigmented of the three. Nubuck should be a leathery shade but instead shows up more grey toned. Cappuccino is a (very) soft sand shade with almost no pigmentation.

Honeycomb is a pretty yellow but it was very chalky and lacked pigmentation. Toast is a warm honey shade but it leans toward orange on my skin tone and not very flattering. I was hoping it to be a more "bronzey" color. Taupe is a soft shimmering grey-brown that's gorgeous in pigmentation and smooth in texture. The formula is a lot easier to work with than the previous 5.

Conker is a really intense brown with subtle shimmers. I loved the shade a lot but it had a bit of fallout. Moss is soft olive brown shade that I found to be super unique in this palette. I absolutely adore this color! Bark is a soft grey that leans toward brown.

Mineral Earth is a bronzed grey brown. Gorgeous shade and a really unique color altogether. Subtle shimmer. Regal is also a very pretty plum brown, very netural and smokey. Noir is an intense matte black, nothing rare or different to this color. Very basic.

I noticed that this palette had a lot of grey tones and a hybrid of mixed browns. It is essentially a nude palette so the colors are especially neutral but I found that it lacked uniqueness. I wish they had mixed their browns with more subtle golds and plums with greys or greys with copper or silver. It's still a nice palette overall and perfect for those wanting simple cool colors. Personally I like the colors in this palette, but wish the formulation and pigmentation were better. The first five shades very much lacked in pigmentation. It goes on as barely a wash on my eye but the last few were better by a long mile. The darker the shades, the smoother the formulation.


Pros
+ Affordable (retails for $9.99)
+ Neutral shades
+ Sleek, travel friendly packaging
+ 12 shades to use

Cons
- Lighter shades lack pigmentation
- Must order online if you live in the US
- Some fall-out (esp with taupe, conker)
- Formulation is not consistent throughout the palette

While the price and variety of shades are promising, I'd rather spend more money on better quality formulas. I'm actually really surprised considering their blushers are super pigmented! Would I repurchase? Probably not because I do love my Naked palettes very much. This one pales in comparison with the amount of unique shades and pigmentation.

Now YOU choose. Would you buy this palette for $9.99? :)

What's Inside My (travel) Makeup Bag!

Why, hello everyone. I am back from my short Thanksgiving voyage home and am back in the Bay Area. I did a little shopping, ate a ton (as usual), and spent a lot of time with my family. I was pretty worn out from being back home and I'm just really glad to be back! The drastic weather change was a little crazy. It went from super hot in LA to super rainy and cold here.

Since I love looking inside people's makeup bags, I decided I'd include my own. It's just kinda quirky and fun to see what others are bringing. I definitely draw inspiration from that so here's what mine looked like over the weekend.

My kinda old Shiseido makeup bag. Very minimal and simple, easy design, purple. It stores a lot of stuff and is super soft yet surprisingly sturdy.

A few of the items I brought along!

Bare Escentuals Angled Brush - This is one of my favorite blush/bronzer brushes because the bristles are so soft and when I apply blush, it makes it look very soft and blended.

MAC 190 SE Foundation Brush - I really like this for traveling because of its petite, travel-friendly size. I find that this brush blends foundation fairly well and I've been really happy with it for a long time :)

Borghese Angled Liner Brush -  I use this mainly for filling in my eyebrows. Despite its long length, it's still travel-friendly.

Rimmel Glam Eyes Mascara - I wrote a short little review originally here. This has since been discontinued but I like it and I always keep it in my bag.

 Lancome Hypnose Star Mascara- I am very much considering purchasing a full size of this mascara! The formula is seriously superb! I've never had any mascara come close to how great this one is. It lifts my lashes, holds a curl and volumizes quite well. I'm going to have to review this fully in another post but I've been pleasantly surprised with this one. And I love that it's not waterproof =D

These two lip balms are incredible! The Revlon Lip Butter in Lollipop and Loreal's Lip Butter in Satin. I won Satin in a giveaway and have been so happy with it. Both colors are so complimentary and glide on like butter. Lollipop is purely gorgeous. I love the fuchsia/purple tones - beautiful fall color!

Maybelline Dream Matte Powder - Currently my favorite setting powder. It's simple and it works. I don't really have anything negative to say about it because I've been using it for over 5 months now and it's kept its promise.

Loreal True Match Blush in Rosy Outlook - I've loved this line of Loreal's blushes for years and years now. The shades are incredibly flattering and I always come back to this because of how natural of a flush it gives. It's foolproof for me every time.

Loreal Eye Shadow Quad in 821 - Apparently this is the older packaging but I mainly use this to fill in my brows. I use the very last color (darkest one) for my eye brows and the other ones for either highlighting or adding some depth to my lids. I love this quad a lot and the darkest color in the palette is oh so flattering as a brow color!  

Jack Black Lip Balm - As minty as it is, the spf 15 in this balm is really needed in harsh weather! This lip balm in particular is really good quality and permeates into lips once applied and keeps them protected from wind and damage. 

Miniature jewelry cases- Yes, I do carry these! I particularly love the granite one on top. I always try to have something like this when I travel because it a little piece of happiness here and there really makes for an entire trip. It's kind of cool to have it by my bedside where I know my earrings and necklace will be safe.

Oh and we cannot forget portable travel eye shadows! This was a sample that I received from Stila and it's basically a sampling of all their eyeshadows in the 'In the Light' palette. Isn't it genius? Thin as a card but enough eyeshadow to last you days! All you need is an eye shadow brush! My particular favorites here were Luster and Sandstone. Just gorgeous tones!

And....the liquids. I had these in a zip loc baggie since I was flying.

Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Liquid Sunblock SPF 55 - I've been using this sunscreen for years! it's so lightweight and perfect under makeup that you can't even feel/tell that you have sunscreen on. It was especially great in the LA heat because it was scorching and sunny there! 

Sephora Makeup Primer - A sample I received from Sephora. I just started using this on my trip home and it didn't really make much of a difference underneath my foundation. 

MUFE HD Foundation 115 - I really like this foundation. I mean, I really really like it. I realize I haven't done a proper review on this. GAH. I really should. I really feel like MUFE makes extraordinary foundations because of the assortment of shades (with proper undertones) and different finishes for every skin type. I really love their F&B foundation. I have reviews on other MUFE foundations if you're interested here. 

And lastly, the hair and skincare stuff -

Organix Moroccan Argan Oil - I use a little bit of this stuff after I was my hair and it softens my hair and keeps it less frizzier than it usually is. This oil smells nice and the small size is so cute and perfect for travelling. Not to mention that it's really affordable at no more than $5.00 for a 1.7 oz/50ml container to try.

Shiseido Benefiance Set - Shiseido products have always been nurturing for my skin, particularly since LA is dry and hot. I love their lotions - they're incredibly moisturizing and lasts a long time. Consistent products, good company. 

What other "staples" do you gals carry with you? :)