FOTD: More Than Just a Pop of Color

Oh my goodness I feel like I haven't done a face of the day post in FOREVER.  I get up do my makeup quick and then usually have to go do other things so I never seem to have the time to do a fun makeup look and take pictures of it.  I made it a point to do this week because this started as a makeup blog and I feel like all my latest posts have been....well not about makeup. Hopefully that will change soon. 

So I was wearing a teal tanktop with a purple sweater and felt like doing a nice colorful eye look to match. I started out with some NYX Milk on my lid to help bring out the Comet eyeshadow from BH Cosmetic's Galaxy Chic palette. Next I took Urban from Urban Decay's Electric palette and blended it into my crease and very lightly under my eye.  I deepened my outer corner with Urban Decay's Blackout and also smudged it on my lower lashline.  I then took my Jesse's Girl liquid liner and draw a regular wing, then went back in a drew another really thin one right under that, blending it in with the Blackout applied earlier.  To emphasize the space between the wings and my inner corner I dabbed on some NYX shadow in Whipped Cream.  On my lips is my favorite nude ever, NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream in Zurich. 

Here is an angled shot just so you can better see all my accessories.  When I match, I MATCH.

Halloween Costumes: Spooky Vampire and Darth Maul

For Halloween this year, much like last year, I did mine and my boyfriend's makeup!  Unfortunately I did not get to be as detailed with our looks as I had planned as we were accidentally running out of time during makeup application.  Regardless I still think we came out pretty adorable!

Here is us! My boyfriend is Darth Maul from Star Wars and I am a generic vampire.

My costume was pretty easy to put together. I also wore a little belt with the dress as it was baggy around the waist but I took this picture before putting it on.

Ears: Aradani Costumes High Elf Ears

Dress: Wish.com Lace Dress

Teeth: Scarecrow Vampire Fangs

I bought the teeth at least 6 years ago from Hottopic so I'm not sure if my exact type even exists anymore. I should probably get new ones....

My eye makeup was also really easy and pretty quick to do, which was good as my boyfriend's face took forever.  

On my lid I applied Urban Decay's Blackout as thick as possible.  I also blended this onto my lower lashline.  I then applied Blackbird Cosmetic's Ruca into my crease and all around my eye.  I also took a very little bit of Mary Kay's Iris and blended it between the black and red of my crease to help blend.  I drew on a wing with my Jesse's Girl liquid liner then took a small brush and drew out some faint black veins with Blackout, and then lightly went over them again with the liquid liner. 

I was going to put on some false lashes but my eyes were so dark they weren't even noticeable anyway, so I didn't bother.

 On my lips is Shiro Cosmetic's Red Wedding because it seriously looks like blood so I knew I had to wear it. As you can see here I also blended Ruca up to my temple to create a neat effect.  I patted my entire face after my usual foundation application with a matte white eyeshadow by NYX.  My contour and eye brows were also done with NYX's blush in Taupe.

This is unfortunately the only shot I have of my teeth.  the other one I took got blurry and I didn't realize it.  I forgot how big and uncomfortable these were so I ended up only really wearing these for pictures and the costume contest.

And here is one more angle of my face.

Here is my mom's costume! She did her own makeup and was just a generic ghoul, however she took some of her makeup inspiration from Sally of The Nightmare Before Christmas.

While I was doing my makeup my boyfriend was carefully covering his face with NYX's Primal Colors in Hot Red. I got this shadow just for his makeup look and it worked like a charm!  With a slightly damp sponge it applied opaque and evenly.  I am pretty impressed for a $5 product.  He covered it entire face and neck and the powder doesn't even look like it has a dent in it!

Then I went and traced the outline of the design with a black gel eyeliner that my mom had.  Unfortunately I did not look at the brand.  I then filled in with Urban Decay's Blackout.  This is when we started to run out of time so I did not get to do the black design above his lip or around his jaw.  Even without this portion his costume was very recognizable and looked really awesome from far away. I didn't get closer around his eyes with the black because his eyes don't take it well and I didn't want to risk his eyes watering and ruining the makeup.

Here is a mirror selfie of our full outfits! Even though we didn't do a matching couples costume I think we were still pretty awesome looking together.

I hope everyone had a Happy Halloween!  Now to plan my costume for next year!

Urban Decay Revolution High-Color Lipgloss in Bittersweet

Sephora was giving out these mini Urban Decay lip glosses in Bittersweet when you entered a specific coupon code upon checkout.  I absolutely loved NYX's intense butter glosses so I had to try out Urban Decay's new competitive release! The tube itself is very nice looking for a sample size.  It is just as decorated as the full sized tubes.  There also seems to be a decent amount of product inside so I would assume this will last me quite some time. 

I had talked a bit about Urban Decay's new glosses in my last Ipsy glam bag post so I'll just do a quick run through.   They apply easily and pigmented.  They last for a long time as far as glosses go (3-4 hours for me) and keep my lips moisturized.  the only downside...if you do not like sticky glosses you will not like these. This color in particular is hard ot get even, I didn't have that problem with the lighter Failbait but I have to use a decent amount of this to build up to a solid more opaque color. Overall I like these glosses but I probably would not buy any more as they are not offering any truly unique colors.

Because I also own NYX's purple gloss, Berry Strudel, I decided to swatch them side to side for you to see.  I had thought Bittersweet was purple but after putting it next to Berry Strudel which is a very true purple it looks way more plummy in comparison. NYX's gloss is much more opaque after only one application and is also much much more affordable.  The only categories UD really wins in with this gloss is the longevity and packaging. With NYX's really great intense butter glosses out there I see no need to spend 3 times as much on UD's version.  Unfortunately the formula is not good enough to justify the price when compared with NYX, even if the packaging is really pretty.

Where to buy: Sephora, urbandecay.com

Price: $22

Ipsy Glam Bag May 2015

You may have noticed that I did not review my April glam bag...well there are a few reasons for that.  One, I didn't get my hands on it until May 2nd.  Two, the lipstick it came with was broken and needed to be replaced.  Three, there was only one product that I really loved which I will be reviewing in a nail polish post shortly.

May on the other hand I was pretty excited for....also my bag came a week earlier than usual!! Yay! Usually my mom gets hers and then mine comes in the mail over a week later...to the same house! What? This time, for the first time, they both came on the same day which makes much more sense.

First of all the bag this month is freaking adorable.  There were three possible graphics available and I got the one I like the most.  Lipstick is life.  I showed it to my boyfriend and he said it was the most accurate bag ever. :P

Anyway, overall I liked this bag, it has some of everything...color, tools, hair, skincare, primer....just wow everything is different! I was quite pleased.

1. Briogeo Rosarco Milk™ Reparative Leave-In Conditioning Spray

"This ultra lightweight leave-in conditioning spray fortifies your hair with nourishing rosehip, argan, and coconut oils. Its silicone-free formula adds hydration & moisture without weighing hair down.

Multi-benefits: hydrates, reduces frizz, enhances manageability, strengthens hair, protects against UV rays & heat, and nourishes hair."

I was really looking forward to a leave in conditioning spray as I generally don't condition every time I shower because of my short hair.

4/5

I'm going to list the bad first with this one.  I was really expecting it to leave my hair a bit softer than it did.  It didn't really add any softness whatsoever which was a bit of a disappointment for me. Luckily for this spray however besides its meh smell, that's its only big negative.  Otherwise it definitely conditions and gets rid of tangles (at least for me and my short barely tangly hair). I was actually going to give this a 3/5 until I saw that it protects against UV rays.  That automatically increases it by a point for me. I can see this being a poolside staple. 

Where to buy: Briogeohair.com, Sephora

Price: $20 ($4)

2. Urban Decay 24/7 Glide on Lip Pencil + BONUS Revolution High-Color Lipgloss

"Get primed and ready for action. Urban Decay's long-lasting, waterproof liner glides on smoothly to prime AND define—for long-lasting lip color and clean lines. Smooch. Pout. Smack. Nibble. Lick. 24/7 stays put through everything (yes, EVERYTHING) you do. When you use this liner to fill in your lips completely, it primes them for lipstick or gloss, grabbing on to color to help it last.

Next, finish the bad girl beautiful look with a sample of Urban Decay's brand new Revolution High-Color Lipgloss—insanely intense color with high shine. The high-coverage, ultra-pigmented formula lays down all the color you crave in one coat."

This was a pretty neat sample! It included a mini Ozone lip primer and two samples of their new lip gloss! If only the packaging wasn't really inconvenient.

4/5

Here is the packing.  The lip liner was in the center and the two colors were in the envelope. It included Ozone the lip liner and Failbait and Bittersweet the lip gloss.

First I'm going to talk about the lip liner

I was actually thinking about buying this last year but I opted for Mary Kay's clear lip liner instead as it was much cheaper.  I do really like this however and am really glad to get it as a sample.  It isn't actually clear, it leaves behind a slight sheer matte white when swatched.  It is subtle but definitely there.  I love clear liners because they can go under any sort of lip product.  They are especially nice for lip glosses as sometimes you don't want to alter the color of the gloss alone by putting a colored liner underneath.  the neatest thing about this liner is that it instantly matted my lips!  They were shiny and then I applied this and bam. Matte. That's pretty awesome.  The bad thing about this is that the cap was insanely hard to get off....I pulled and tugged and fought with it for a while.  If you look closely you can see the pencils battle scars.  Fortunately I was the victor. 

Next up are the lip gloss samples.

Here is a close up of the lip gloss packaging featuring Bittersweet.  They are just kind of packed into a sealed container.  Once you pull the back off there is no way to reseal it which is really unfortunate as there is a TON of product in here! You don't need a lot of this gloss to get pigment so there is probably a good week or two worth of gloss in one of these!  For the time being  I'm sealing it with a bobby pin and storing it untilted.  This stupid packaging is the reason this product did not get 5/5 for me.

I will only be reviewing the Failbait color as I received a sample size of Bittersweet from Sephora before I knew about this Ipsy bag and was already planning on reviewing it separately.  So Failbait is a pretty standard pink gloss.  The color isn't unique or special so unfortunately there are about a million glosses in existence that are this color and way waaay cheaper.  As for quality, these glosses really are quite awesome.  They apply easily and pigmented.  On my lips in this picture I literally only applied a tiny dab. It lasts for a long time as far as glosses go (3-4 hours for me) and keeps my lips moisturized.  the only downside...if you do not like sticky glosses you will not like this.  It is very sticky when you put your lips together.  My boyfriend hates when I wear it because I'm too sticky to kiss. :P

Where to buy: Urbandecay.com, Sephora

Price:

Liner: $20 ($13.33)

Gloss: $22 ($3?)

3 BelláPierre Cosmetics Waterproof Mineral Gel Eyeliner Pencil.

"This super creamy mineral gel eyeliner formula provides effortlessly smooth application and intense pigment for amazing coverage and all day wear. Plus it’s waterproof so you’ll definitely be smudge-free!"

The waterproof aspect of this really had me excited about this liner! 

5/5

So I am pretty impressed with this liner.  It goes on black (thankfully as the color is Ebony) and smoothly.  It is easy to apply a thick or a thin line as long as you keep it sharpened.  I was even able to get it to slightly flick out to a wing which is pretty neat!  I tried smudging it on my bottom lashes and as you can see it didn't do very much.  I also tried rubbing it off my hand and it barely budged.  I've washed my hands twice and its still there. This is the most waterproof liner I've ever used.  I am definitely pleased. I think this may be a liner I could wear swimming!  Yay!

I would have really liked this in a color other than black though.

Where to buy: bellapierre.com

Price: $15

4. AMIE Morning Dew Matte-Finish Moisturizer

"Morning Dew is a really light daily moisturizer that’s totally mineral oil-free and parabens-free. Quickly and easily absorbed into the skin, it gives skin all the hydration it needs while controlling shine and leaving a smooth, matte finish that’s a perfect base for make-up or facing the day or night ‘au naturel’!"

I had such high expectations for this and unfortunately it fell short.....

3/5

Alright so I was so freaking pumped when I saw I was getting a matte moisturizer! Holy crap!  The reason I rarely go out without foundation is because I hate the way moisturizer leaves me all shiny so I always have to put on a mattifying foundation to tone down the obnoxious shine. I thought this would be my answer...my holy grail moisturizer....but alas.  I put this on half my face and a regular moisturizer on the other half, then got my camera ready to show you guys the amazing difference.  There was none.  Both sides of my face were equally as shiny.  I waited a little while...and no change.  Sigh.  Perhaps it keeps oily skin less oily...but don't get my hopes up and advertise as a matte moisturizer.  I almost want to give this a 2 just because of how bummed I am.  Matte aside....it smells better than the last Ipsy moisturizer I got which was cucumbers...ew, but it's still not amazing.  It does moisturize and feels nice on the skin.  

Where to buy: amieskincare.com

Price: ~$5.60 (~$.56)

5. Luxie Beauty Tapered Blending Eye Brush 205

"This Luxie Rose Gold Tapered Blending Eye Brush is a 100% Animal Cruelty Free brush with high quality synthetic hair bristles that are soft to the touch. With its Vegan makeup qualities from bristles to the ferrule this Rose Gold brush is a must have in your makeup collection."

I was bummed about getting another brush but I actually love this!

5/5

This brush is advertised as a blending brush but honestly I don't think I'll be using it as such.  Instead I love it as a crease brush, it fits in there so perfectly!  I think its funny because the last brush I got was a crease brush but it was so small I couldn't get it to work as such so it became my new favorite blender....and now this one is meant to blend but its perfect for my crease.  How silly! :P

The shape of this brush also makes it a good base eye shadow brush meaning that it is definitely going in my travel makeup bag because it will function as both a shadow and crease brush in one!

It is also incredibly soft.  Using this on my eyes was like pillows and kittens.  I really really like this brush and will be looking into this brand for sure.

Where to buy: luxiebeauty.com

Price: $12

Overall I really liked this bag.  It had 4 out of 5 products that I will be using very frequently.   This bag makes me reconsider canceling in July....Unfortunately my mom's experience wasn't as nice as mine.  She got another bronzer and was pretty bummed as she does not use bronzer at all.

This bag totaled $47.89.  This one is definitely an estimate as the lip glosses were a guess and the moisturizer was converted from Euros.  Even without the lip glosses added it was a pretty nicely priced bag with two full sized products! 

Want to sign up for Ipsy too?

May The Fourth Be With You Boba Fett FOTD

Happy May the Fourth!

Last year I did some Darth Vader inspired makeup.  This year I decided to go with everyone's favorite bounty hunter, Boba Fett!

I was worried I wouldn't be able to do this look as I realized this morning that I don't have an olive green eye shadow.  Luckily I'm at home so I had access to my mother's stash.  Therefore I was able to put Estee Lauder's Precious Jade cream eye shadow all over my lid and crease.  Personally I don't like cream eye shadow.  I find it hard to blend and just overall annoying to work with, but it was all I had.  I then lined my eyes with Aphrodite from the Galaxy Chic Palette.  I finished this bounty hunter themed look with a dab of Thrash from the Electric Palette at my inner corner. 

On my lips is MAC Russian Red.

And of course because the Boba Fett colored makeup may be a bit too subtle I wore my only (unfortunately) Star Wars shirt today.  I got this from Think Geek but I don't think it is available anymore.

May The Fourth Be With You.

Black Lavender FOTD

Forgive the name.  I really had no clue what to  call this look but I rather enjoyed it, especially because of how simple it is. 

I also really like combining stereotypical spring colors with an overall darker look.  I just love the contrast! :)

I started by applying NYX Milk just because light colors like this tend to not show up very well on my skin.  After blending Milk I patted Hello Waffle Cosmetic's Catticus Finch onto my eye lid and blended up to my brow bone. I then took a tiny dab of Urban Decay's Blackout and used it to darken my outer corner. I then took my Jesse's Girl liquid liner and made a super long exaggerated wing because why not!

I love Catticus Finch so much but it photographs really crappy.  It is such a beautiful pale lavender but my camera just hates it.....:(

On my lips is Cold Hearted by NYX which I will review very soon!

Golden Raspberry FOTD

This week is finals week so I've been doing a lot of studying and definitely not any procrastinating whatsoever......

Hah.

Today is my physiology II final...its in about an hour....and since its such a nice day out I decided to do a springy look using a color I normally don't work with...gold!

For this look I first put down NYX Milk to make that gold pop as much as possible.  I then used Saturn from the galaxy chic palette on my lid.  Next I took Jilted from the electric pallete and blended it into my crease and under my eye, creating a halo effect. I then finished the look up with Urban Decay's Blackout by using it to darken my outer corner and give my upper lashes a very fine line. Very easy and very cute!

On my lips is Bare Minerals Marvelous Moxie lipstick in Lead the Way.

I also wanted to share my outfit because why not!  I absolutely love this top.  I got in at H&M while I was in Turkey.  It is one of the few floral prints I own and for whatever reason as of a little bit ago I've been really eyeing floral prints more and more.  I think when I do some shopping this summer I'll be picking up quite a lot of floral.  The dark green tank top is by Loft,

Now I'm going to do a small bit of extra studying before heading out to take my first final!

I'm Fabulous and Totally Not Sick FOTD

A few days ago my throat started to hurt and before I knew it I had a full fledged cold.  Bleh.  Life for a graduate student goes on so I slapped on some makeup to make myself feel and look less crappy. 

I wanted to really stress the bright colors idea to help mask my tired sick self.  Therefore I chose a bright mint green top and paired it with some equally bright makeup!

On my lid and lightly blended under my eye I have Shiro Cosmetic's Maiden Queen.  In my crease I blended Darkside from the Naked 3 into my crease.  I then darkened my outer corner with NYX Cosmetic's Punk Heart eye shadow to add a bit of purple.  After winging it out I added a touch of sparkle under my eye with Urban Decay's Heavy Metal glitter liner in an unfortunately discontinued shade. 

On my lips is NYX's soft matte lip cream in San Paulo.

I seriously feel so adorable today.  I think I need to invest in more mint colored clothing.  

Also Kamelot's new video was scheduled to release today so I was taking ridiculous pictures while waiting for it to finally go up.  Much to my surprise after uploading these to my laptop I check facebook and BAM, ITS UP! 

So happy!

For your listening and viewing pleasure, Insomnia by Kamelot <3

Nightwish Concert Practice Makeup

So tonight I will be going to see Nightwish, Delain, and Sabaton and I am sooo excited! Nightwish has been my favorite band since I was in middle school.  Once Tarja left I couldn't stand Annette's voice and got out of symphonic metal until just last year when my boyfriend brought me back.  I am so overjoyed that Floor Jansen is the new singer.  I loved her in After Forever and Revamp and she works with Nightwish perfectly.  I do miss Tarja's operatics but I love Floor just as much.   And then there's Marco who I've always loved.

Anyway I did a concert makeup trial run and decided to wait to post it today since there's no way I'm updating on the day of the concert.

This is my custom Nightwish shirt that I ordered from Artscow.com.  I want to do my makeup to match this as it is what I'm wearing to the show. Century Child will always be my favorite Nightwish Album. 

I don't really feel like going super dark for this show so I decided to do something a lot more colorful! I started by tracing a wing with Jesse's Girl liquid liner.  then I dabbed Fringe from the Electric Palette towards the outer half of my lid.  Then I took Cosmic from BH Cosmetic's Galaxy palette and blended that from the corner of my eye and into Fringe.  I then took Urban Decay's Blackout and filled my wing in while also blending into Fringe.  I then blended the three  colors again under my eye.  I lined my lid lightly with my liquid liner and finished with mascara! For the concert I may decide to go a bit darker with the black and line my eyes a bit thicker with the liquid liner.

I'm still not 100% sure of what lipstick to wear.  I may go pretty dark since my eyes aren't too powerful. Regardless I have to make sure to pick something that will stay all night.

I'll be sure to make a concert post again like I did after Sonata Arctica!

Charlotte Wessels Inspired FOTD

Happy Easter Everyone!

Since I know I will be busy today I have prepared this post ahead of time.  If I do an Easter look it will have to wait for another day.

It seems symphonic metal goes hand in hand with awesome makeup because I've been doing a lot of looks inspired by the genre.  Today I decided to base a look off of Charlotte Wessels of Delain.

She is very pretty and even more talented. I had not listened to them too much but after seeing them open for Sonata Arctica I've been loving their album Lucidity.  I'll be seeing them again open for Nightwish so I'm very excited!!

If you've never heard of Delain here is a video for Frozen off Lucidity.

It's weird....sometimes the close up eye pictures look better than the face as a whole and other times the whole picture is way nicer than the zoomed in eyes.  This is definitely the latter.  I just could not get a good close up picture of this look but I adore all the full face shots.  Oh well!

To get this eye look I used all Urban Decay products! It wasn't actually intentional, it just happened that way.

I started with the Naked 3 palette and put Factory on my entire lid and crease.  Then I blended Darkside onto my lid and highlighted with Strange.  Next I took the single Blackout and blended it along my lashline and in the outer corner for depth.  To finish up I grabbed Urban from the Electric Palette and blended it under my lower lashline. 

 I also contoured heavily with a combo of NYX Taupe and MAC Crazed Imagination.  On my lips is Urban Decay's Andromeda gloss which is discontinued.  I didn't really have any shimmery peachy nudes like she was wearing so I had to improvise.

So dark but yet so wearable! I might just do this again tomorrow.

And of course as is necessary here is my side by side comparison.  Photoshopped of course to fit the lighting of the original. So much contrast.  My purple is a little more intense and my darks could have been darker but overall I'm pleased with how I did.

One final picture of the lovely Charlotte to end the post!

Spring Summoning FOTD

I am oh so very much ready for spring.  I hate the cold and I love swimming and flowers and ugh stupid window needs to end.  Today I dressed as if it were about 20 degrees warmer to make myself feel better.  

For this look I used Slowburn and Revolt from the Electric Palette. I dabbed Slowburn all over my eye lid and blended Revolt under my eye for a nice pop of sparkle. I took Skinny Dip by NYX and blended it into my crease.  I then darked my outer corner using Urban Decay's Blackout single shadow. I finished with a wing and voila! Super easy spring eye!

On my lips is NYX soft matte lip cream in San Paulo. 

Happy St Patrick's Day!

What is St Patrick's Day without a slightly over the top green eye look??? No fun, that's what!

I don't really like how I look with so much green on my eyes.  For me green is more of an accent color, therefore I only dress up my eyes in green once a year.

 I'm not 100% sure if I have any Irish in me but there is evidence that points to my last name on my father's side being a variation of an Irish name that could have been Americanized during immigration. So...yay for maybe being part Irish!

I used only green products on my eyes except for my mascara.  It was fun but this is definitely a once a year only FOTD.

To achieve this glorious green look I started by taking my Electric Palette and placing Freak all over my lid. Then I took Fringe and applied it in my crease and inner corner to create a halo effect. I also lightly blended Fringe and Freak under my eye with Freak being closer to my inner corner. Next I finally got to use Ulta's precision liquid liner in Forest Green (which is seems they are already discontinued...that was fast.  Probably for good reason, they aren't that great) and used it to line my lid and create a small wing.  Finally I grabbed my NYX liquid crystal liner in Crystal Jade to add a line of green glitter to my lower lashline.  

 

Also take notice to my super cute shamrock earrings. I have no idea where I got them but without fail I have worn them once a year for St Patrick's Day for the past 5 years.

On my lips is Mary Kay True Dimensions Lipstick in Mystic Plum.

Whether you actually celebrate St. Patrick's Day or just use it as an excuse to wear green with crazy green makeup, I hope you have a happy one!

Kamelot Haven Makeup

Recently Kamelot has announced the release of a new album on May 5th.

After Nightwish's lack luster album cover reveal I was totally blown away by Kamelot's! I love it and I need a shirt with this design.  NEED. Anyway because I like mixing my interests as much as possible I decided to attempt copying the makeup of the girl as closely as I could.  There wasn't much to work with but I gave it a go.

Here is the album cover for reference.  From this you can see she is wearing a thick upper eye liner with a dark even shadow all over the lid almost up to the eyebrows.  Also there is a lot of black shadow smudged underneath her eyes.  The lips look pale and almost skin colored.

So here is me! 

All over my lid I applied Haywire by NYX Cosmetics.  I then created the thick liner using Urban Decay's liner in Zero.  Finally using Black Out by Urban Decay as well I smudged black under my eyes.  For my lips, I just dabbed them with powder foundation.  I really wish I would have had some false lashes in order to match even better.

I thought this would look pretty ridiculous in any position other than the eyes closed profile but honestly I don't hate it.  If I wore this in public everyone would probably attempt to avoid me out of fear, but I would definitely look dark and fabulous.  

Ok I always seem to do something embarrassing every time I use symphonic metal as a source of makeup inspiration. So here is me photoshopped onto the album cover.  I'm not near as adorable as the model they used and my facial features didn't line up quite right.  My eye is almost completely covered by hair :(

But all that aside I think I did an ok job for not being a photoshop master. 

I can't wait for the first single to be released! <3