Makeover: Animal prints out of control

The pictures are finally in!  I thought there would be a head shot of each dancer, but the photographer was covering the entire event so I only have bits and pieces here and there.  I had an hour to do the animal prints on 4 boys and quickly apply some lashes on the girl.  I suppose it was a bit more like face painting but it was so much fun!

Here are some pictures from my camera:

And here's the video of the performance once again if you haven't seen it:



Hope you guys enjoyed this!

FOTD: Memorial Day

In honor of Memorial Day, I did a simple red, silver, and blue look for work.  I was also kind of hoping that customers would notice and drop a tip more often but I think that mission failed cause it was too subtle.  Haha.

Face:

-Laura Mercier Hydrating Primer

-Lancome Teint Idole Fresh Wear Foundation in Bisque 4

-Laura Mercier Setting Powder

-NARS Laguna Bronzer

-theBalm Bahama Mama Blush

Eyes:

-UDPP

-Stila eyeshadow in Terracotta

-The Body Shop eyeshadow #45

-UD 15 Anniversary Palette: Evidence, Vanilla

-Lancome eyeshadow in After Dusk (D/C)

-Inglot AMC Gel Liner in 77

-L'oreal Waterproof Carbon Black Mascara

Lips:

-Lancome lipstick in Rose Tempest (D/C)

FOTD: Punk Prom

On Saturday night, I did some makeup for some dancers at DNA Lounge in San Francisco.  I'll have more of that in another post.  But the theme of the party was Punk Prom.  I googled some images for punk style but I didn't really seem to have anything to fit in that category.  Plus I was running late and freaking out about the whole event so this is what I quickly slapped on my face while trying to make something work with my glasses.  I had intended to put on some black and purple lipstick but I was really pressing for time.  These pictures were taken after the event, as you can see from my shiny T-zone and deflated hair.

Face:
-Laura Mercier Hydrating Face Primer
-Eve Pearl Dual HD Foundation in Light
-Laura Mercier Setting Powder
-NARS Laguna Bronzer
-Tarte Amazonian Clay Blush in Natural Beauty

Eyes:
-UDPP
-Chanel Illusion D'ombre eyeshadow in Mirifique
-MAC Pro Longwear eyeshadow in Make Your Mark
-Lancome eyeshadow in After Dusk (D/C)
-Too Faced eyeshadow in Heaven
-Sugarpill Loose eyeshadow in Asylum
-Stila eyeliner in Silver Dollar
-Inglot AMC Gel Liner in 77
-L'oreal Waterproof Carbon Black Mascara

I'd really love to upload pictures from the event but I want to wait until I get my hands on the professional pictures.  Meanwhile, here is a clip of the performance.  You can't see the makeup too well but you can enjoy the video.  I think you guys will love it :)

My first Fyrinnae Purchase (& Swatches!)

I've heard and seen absolutely amazing things from Fyrinnae.  I don't know why it took me so long to make an order, but I finally did!

I'm an eyeshadow whore, so eyeshadows and the legendary Pixie Epoxy were my targets.  There are just so many different colors and finishes that choose from that I didn't know where to start.  The only solution, then, was to go to the master list of colors and choose the first colors that caught my eye, and keep adding items into my cart until I think it was too much.  I managed to stop myself after selecting 8 colors and the Pixie Epoxy.  The makers of Fyrinnae were nice enough to throw a sample in there as well.

My goodies arrived in a bubble mailer, and a few extra layers of padding.

This is the Pixie Epoxy as compared to a MAC lipstick in terms of size.

And behold the eyeshadows and my little swatching station.  I was very pleasantly surprised at how packed these little jars are.

All swatches were done outdoors in the beautiful sunlight, without flash.  The top row is swatched on bare skin.  The second row is over Pixie Epoxy.

Damn Paladins, Beholder, Book of the Dead

Boytoy, Callipygian, Digital Faerie

Freya, Cuddlefish, and Bloggers Beauty

All of these colors are absolutely gorgeous.  Surprisingly, I found my favorites of this batch to be Damn Paladins and Bloggers Beauty, but only by a very tiny margin.  I really can't wait to make another purchase (I like collecting...), but not until I've played with all these colors and have a few more pennies saved up.

I know I'm late on discovering Fyrinnae.  Are there any other colors that you guys think are a "must-have"?  Let me know!

theBalm 3 for 1 Palettes! Friday (5/25) only!

Hey everyone!

I'm so excited to let you know that theBalm is having a fantastic sale right now!  On Friday (today May 25th) up until 11:59pm EST, you can purchase all three ShadyLady palettes for the price of one!  These palettes retail for $39.50 each, but you're going to get all three for that price.  Also, there is free shipping for U.S. residents.  I ordered mine already since I don't have any of them, but hurry and go get yours before they run out!

FOTD: Off Day

It's been kind of a weird day for me.  I was at home alone for most of the day and it gave me a lot of time to think about some of everything, none of which were very happy thoughts.  I played with some eyeshadows in the early afternoon.  By early evening I decided to finish my makeup, curl my hair, and went out....to walk my dog.

I've always thought one of my eyes were bigger than the other.  Today, I finally realized that my right eye is hooded, and my left eye is not.  I would much rather blame myself for poor makeup application than admit my eyes are so mismatched.  I also tested a few different application techniques today, which resulted in blotchy eyeshadow.  Today is not a good day.

Eyes:
-MicaBella Cosmetics Eyeshadow Primer
-Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy
-Home made mixing medium
-Spellbound eyeshadow in Hades
-Sugarpill Loose Eyeshadow in Asylum
-Fyrinnae eyeshadow in Damn Paladins
-Too Faced eyeshadow in Heaven
-Stila Smudgepot in Pomegranate
-Inglot AMC Gel liner in 77
-L'oreal Waterproof Carbon Black Mascara

Face:
-Eve Pearl HD Dual Foundation in Light
-Laura Mercier Setting Powder
-NARS Laguna Bronzer
-Tarte Amazonian Clay Blush in Natural Beauty

Lips:
-Lancome lipstick in Rose Tempest (D/C)

Out of the Box: Episode 1 (FOTD)

I'm starting a new series called "Out of the Box."  I tend to use the same products over and over again, leaving a lot of makeup untouched or barely used.  I think most bloggers typically relate these types of posts as "shopping your stash" but for some reason I really dislike that phrase.  Plus, that usually refers to the rediscovery of one product.

This series will be focused on creating a look with as many products that I wouldn't really reach for.  Some items, like my foundation, I can't really switch up because the only foundations I have that I don't use regularly are the ones I use for class and on clients.

Let's just hop to it, shall we?

Face: 

-Eve Pearl HD Dual Foundation in Light

-Laura Mercier Setting Powder

-NARS Laguna Bronzer

-The Balm Bronzer in Bahama Mama

-Illamasqua Blusher in Thrust

Eyes:

-MAC Paintpot in Painterly

-Spellbound Cosmetics eyeshadow in Bubble

-Black Rose Minerals eyeshadows in Earthen and Frost

-Stila eyeshadow in Black Cat

-Stila eyeliner in Stingray

-L'oreal Waterproof Carbon Black Mascara

-Maybelline Eyestudio Gel Liner in Forest (LE)

Lips
-Inglot lipstick in 264

As I've said, I tend to stick with the same products once I find something I like.  I find this to be most convenient when I have to look presentable and don't have the time to experiment with different things, which means a risk of needing to redo my makeup.  I had the luxury of time on Friday, so I pulled out some products I have barely touched (some even unopened!) and tried to figure something out.  I ended up using a few items for the very first time.  Here are some ways I tried to step out of the box:

1. Using mineral makeup/makeup purchased from an independent company.  I own quite a few eyeshadows from independent companies, but have never really used them because it's messy, and I find that most of the pressed shadows in my collection much more pigmented.  I was VERY pleasantly surprised with Bubble, as the pigmentation was fantastic.  Earthen...not so much.

2. Using pink.  I have nothing against pink, but I'm much more attracted to richer, bolder colors.  I own so few pink eyeshadows that there have been a couple times when I decided to use pink, but could not find the shade I wanted.

3. Lashes.  Again, I have nothing against lashes.  But as a frequent glasses wearer, they tend to brush up against the lenses and it's really quite annoying.  For the purpose of this look and because I was staying at home, I threw them on anyway.  Then ripped them off after taking pictures because they're so uncomfortable.

4. Light/nude lipstick.  When I first tried this lipstick on inside one of Montreal's Inglot stores, I was horrified when I looked in the mirror.  Light lipstick is NOT my thing.  One of the makeup artists claimed that she really liked it on me, and I figured I did not own such a light lipstick anyway so I got it.  Since then, I've tried it on a couple times but never found an occasion to wear it.  I still haven't, but at least I am documenting it, haha.

5. Hair.  Totally not makeup related, but that's okay.  I don't really know how to wear my hair curly anymore now that I have short hair, so I did a test run.  I curled it with a new flat iron I got from Le Angelique, then teased and hairsprayed the crap out of it.

As for the direction I took, I really didn't have one until I applied Bubble to my lids.  It was such a beautiful, pure, shimmery pink, that I didn't want to contrast it with dark colors.  I still wanted to break the pureness of the color, so I darkened my lash line with Earthen, and applied some non-dolllike lashes. The magenta blush on my cheeks ended up more pink than I expected.  I was flirting with doing a fantasy look and actually blended the blush up to my temples, but decided not to overdo it.

I used 5 products that I have never used before, which I'm proud of.  I discovered that I really really like some of them (Maybelline gel liner, Bubble, and Thrust) so hopefully I'll use them more often now.

What are some ways that you like to step out of the box?  I'd love to know!

Dark Cut Crease Makeup: My first hair/fashion show

I got thrown into doing makeup for a hair show that one of night senior cosmetology class was putting on.  They had planned this fantastic hair show to showcase hair, as well as some fashion and makeup, but some of their models and makeup artists backed out at the very last minute.  My teacher asked me to fill in the night before.  I had work during the evening, so I ended up only being available for a little over an hour.

Prior to the show, I tried contacting somebody about what kind of makeup I was to do because I could only bring so much with me.  Since I didn't get a reply, I just threw some more colorful eyeshadows in my kit and ran out the door.

I was very lucky.  There were a few familiar faces on site.  The stylist that snagged me was a girl that worked at the lab during my class hours, and her model was one of my classmates!  Both are wonderful, easy going people, and the model (Taneil) used to model professionally so she was very easy to work with.

The stylist, Tasha, wanted dark makeup for Taneil.  She left me a lot of freedom with the makeup, but asked for black lipstick and dark, but not goth, eye makeup to contrast her pure white dress.  Tasha watched me as I applied the makeup, and was thrilled with it.  That took enormous pressure off my chest, as then I would not have to go back and make adjustments.  Also, I was very grateful that none of the other stylists knew who I was and asked me to do makeup on their models, because it allowed me to allocate my full hour of time to Taneil. When everyone knows you do makeup and everyone wants their makeup done, it gets very chaotic....

I wish I had taken more pictures, but I was rushing to get to work on time!  If/When I get copies of the professional pictures, I'll post those too!

  

Yes, that is indeed a dress made of coffee filters that Tasha made.  Crazy, huh?  I had to leave before I could see the finished look all put together.  Here are some pictures from Tasha's phone though.

 Overall, it was a fantastic experience and I wish I had been able to stay for the whole thing!  I don't know if I'll be able to do another one of these again :(

I'm hopeless (FOTD)

I swear, this look was supposed to be different from the day before.  I was inspired by a peacock look I saw on Skindinavia's facebook page and I tried to do something like it but it didn't come out nearly as bright.  My makeup looked a lot better in person, and I was actually really happy with it.  I was very reluctant to remove it after work.

I am definitely loving this Eve Pearl foundation!  I will buy more once I'm less broke!

Face:
-Laura Mercier Hydrating Primer
-Eve Pearl HD Dual Foundation in Light
-Laura Mercier Setting Powder
-NARS Laguna Bronzer
-NARS Blush in Deep Throat

Eyes: 
-UDPP
-L'oreal HIP Eyeshadow Duo in Showy
-Urban Decay Alice in Wonderland Palette: Underland, Curiouser, Oraculum
-Too Faced eyeshadow in Heaven
-Inglot AMC Gel Liner in 77
-L'oreal Waterproof Carbon Black Mascara

Lips:
-Lancome lipstick in Love Me! (D/C)

I seem to be in a cool color rut.  I wonder what tomorrow will bring.

FOTD: Unconscious repeat

I have been either doing "functional" makeup or going bare faced lately, so having time to sit down and enjoy applying my makeup is real treat.  I know I say this over and over again but I like bright, colorful looks.  What usually happens, however, is that I create something very wearable.

In my attempt to make something bright and fun, my unconscious took over and I gravitated towards a color combination that I have used not once, but twice before.  Of course, I don't realize this until I finish the look.  Boo.

I thought this may still be worth posting though, if only to feature a new foundation I'm using.  I am super low on my Smashbox foundation, so I'm saving it for times when I have to do my makeup at the speed of light.  I bought this Eve Pearl foundation a couple years ago on Hautelook*.  I gawked at the $54 original price tag and snagged this for $20.  I still can't get over how it looks so dark in person but so light on camera.  It's supposed to be an HD foundation.

Anyways, here's the look!

Face:
-Laura Mercier Hydrating Primer
-Eve Pearl High Definition Dual Foundation in Light
-NARS Laguna Bronzer (lots of it)
-MAC Mineralize Blush in Feeling Flushed (LE)
-Laura Mercier Setting Powder

Eyes:
-UDPP
-Urban Decay Alice in Wonderland Palette: Alice, Underland, Drink me eat me, White Rabbit, Jabberwocky
-Too Faced eyeshadow in Heaven
-Inglot AMC Gel Liner in 77 (black) and 76 (white)
-L'oreal Waterproof Carbon Black Mascara

Lips:
-Lancome lipstick in Rose Tempest (D/C)

Props to you if you've been reading my blog long enough to know which two looks this one is similar too :)

You, too, can sit back and let your unconscious take over.

I'm being a dork, haha.  I'm very tired.

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