Archive for the ‘eye makeup’ Category
MAC Blush Ombre & Eyeshadow
Here is a weird thing to admit as a beauty blogger and an all-around makeup obsessed human being: Before a few weeks ago, I’d never used a single MAC makeup product. I know! How is that even possible? MAC is omnipresent in the beauty world and has the best of everything. I’ll get really real on you and admit that the MAC counter has always intimidated me. The MAC girls are so intensely fly. They’re kinda scary. But fear not. They just look intimidating because their makeup is flawless. But yours (and mine) can be too.
I recently tested out MAC’s new (limited edition) Blush Ombre in Azalea Blossom and Eyeshadow in Nanogold. And now I’m a MAC convert. MAC is the bomb.
First, let’s discuss MAC Blush Ombre. I’m obsessed with this blush. It’s so gorgeous. Even if you’re not in the market for a new blush, you should pop into a MAC store and take a peak at it because it’s so pretty. It features this beautiful wave of ombre color. The Azalea Blossom blends from a darker almost violet pink to a light cool pink. It’s milled ultra-fine and provides medium-buildable coverage. Over all, it’s a light cool pink color. Azalea Blossom is sold out online, but you might be able to get it in stores? I have a warm complexion, and wasn’t sure how the cool pink tone would look on me, but this color looks amazing on. I love wearing Azalea Blossom when I use Buxom Lash in Blue Noir. The combo of the blue-black lashes with the cool pink cheeks is out of this world.
The Blush Ombre color is very buildable, so you can swipe on a tiny bit if you want a light wash of color or more if you want a more intense shade. Also, the compact is a lot larger than other MAC blushes, which is nice.
Another good way to use this Ombre Blush is to apply the light pink shade to apples of your cheek, and then sparingly swipe the violet pink as a contour. Use a tapered cheek highlight brush. Price: $25.00
I also tried out my very first MAC Eyeshadow in Nanogold. It’s a lustrous sheer goldy beige with pink pearl. Nanogold is the perfect eyeshadow to use alone as an all over wash of color when you don’t feel like doing a whole eye makeup routine. It also works great as a brow bone or inner eye highlighter. I even used it as a cheek highlighter. It will be perfect to highlight a summer tan. (Someday.) Price: $14.00
An editorial sample was provided by the company so I could review this product. Please see my About page for further information on Disclosure policies.
Must Have: Buxom Lash Mascara
I have tried like a million mascaras in my days, and I’m super picky. I have decently long eyelashes, but they are straight and not incredibly thick, so I’m always looking for a mascara that holds curl and adds a bit of thickness. An impossible mission? I love waterproof mascaras because they really hold curl, but they dry out your eyelashes, so they’re not good for everyday use. So I have never really found a mascara I love, until now. For realz. I’m in love with Buxom Lash!
I got Buxom Lash in Blue Noir, which looks pretty blue-blue on the wand, but goes on glossy dark blue-black. It gives your lashes that “fake lash-effect” and does a great job of separating lashes while adding volume and holding curl. It doesn’t dry too quickly, which allows you to add a a second coat without ending up with the dreaded spider lashes. But don’t add too much because it is a thick formula. You don’t need too much to get the job done!
I love Buxom Lash’s brush–it has specially molded bristles designed to grip each lash and a unique hourglass-shape with alternating long and short bristles to evenly deliver the right amount of mascara.
Buxom Lash comes in Blue Noir or Blackest Black. I am definitely going to try Blackest Black next time even though I do like the effect of Blue Noir. The only tiny complaint I have is that when I wear this mascara when I am running, a little bit of the blue tone smudges under my eyes. It’s a minor inconvenience for an overall rad mascara. The colors come from natural mineral colorants, including Iron Oxides and Mica. It’s also infused with mineral supplements, Rhodochrosite and Hematite to boost the health of your lashes, plus antioxidant Vitamin E and Sodium Hyaluronate to protect lashes. Buxom Lash is perfectly safe for contact lens wearers and parben-free. It washes off easily with a gentle cleanser. Price: $18.00! Which is great since I have no joke spent more than $40.00 on mascara. Stop looking at me like that. This is available exclusively at Sephora.
Stay Tuned: Coming up soon on Beauty Girl Reviews, I will be reviewing Buxom Balm in Copacabana, RareMinerals Active Triple Treatment Eye Cream and bareMinerals Mineral Veil SPF 25.
An editorial sample was provided by the company so I could review this product. Please see my About page for further information on Disclosure policies.
Brow Diva
As previously discussed on Beauty Girl Reviews, I am eyebrow obsessed. I’ve used eyebrow pencils and shadow with a brush to fill in my brows, but I have never used a wax-based product before. Until now…
I’ve been using Brow Diva’s Brow Base–a wax-based product that can be used alone or with a brow powder for a more intense color. You apply it with an angle brush, filling in any sparse areas and then blending the color with the spooly side of the brush. I tried Brow Base in “Rita”, which is a soft red. The color is actually a bit too red for me, but it would be so perfect for true redheads. (And I know it’s tricky to get the right makeup for natural redheads, seriously.) I think I’d like to try the color “Jane” next, which is a light warm brown. Rita just had a little too much red in it for me, but I LOVED the product itself. The stickiness of the wax helps hold brows in place as it shades, something a plain powder cannot do. That’s what I like about brow gels or mascaras–the holding powder–but I like the natural coverage and control of a shadow. Brow Base is the perfect combination! Even though the color of “Rita” is slightly off for me, I love the product so much I’ve been using it anyway to set my brows, and then using a brown powder over it. Brow Base comes in six colors all together. Besides Jane and Rita, Brow Base comes in Katharine, a medium warm brown, Sophia, a medium cool brown, Jean, a light cool brown, and Lena, a soft black. Suggested Retail Price: $25.00
I highly recommend getting the Duo Brush to go along with the Brow Base, or picking up a similar brush. This is a great dual purpose brush that has a angled end for applying your brow powder or base and a spooly side for blending. ALWAYS blend after applying product to your brows. It’s the golden brow rule. It’s also helpful for holding brows in place when trimming. Suggested Retail Price: $19.00
I also tried out Brow Diva’s Brow Powder, which can also be used alone or with the Brow Base. Again, I tried this in Rita, which was a bit too red for me, but the powder overall was nice. However, I’m just way into the whole wax-based brow product right now, so it was hard to get me interested in anything else! Brow Powder comes in six shades, the same as the Brow Base. Suggested Retail Price: $25.00
An editorial sample was provided by the company so I could review this product. Please see my About page for further information on Disclosure policies.
How To: Glossy Lids
My ultimate beauty product recommendation? Smith’s Rosebud Salve. It’s a wonderful multi-purpose balm that soothes dry lips, calms and heals irritation, and works wonders on dry elbows, knees or winter noses. But aside from its moisturizing properties, Rosebud Salve is a great little makeup bag secret weapon. It adds a touch of gloss to your lids and cheeks, which is particularly wow-inducing during the dry, winter months. I’d read about this makeup trick before, but I recently tried it out and now I’m hooked.
Here’s How:
- Begin with clean eyelids. You can also use an eye makeup primer over your lids to provide extra hold.
- Curl your eyelashes.
- I line my upper eyelids with Stila’s Convertible Eye Color in Teak. Use the eyeliner end first, creating a rough, imprecise line, then go over it with the shadow. Finish by blending it with the smugger. All of this can be done rough and messy because the look you’re going for is kind of rock ‘n roll.
- Then I go over the eyelid with Raw Minerals Mineral Eye Shadow in Sand–a nice neutral, slightly shimmery pale pink. It drops the intensity down a notch and gives a nice sheen when you apply…
- The Rosebud Salve. This is slightly tricky because when you apply the salve, you don’t want to take off the makeup. Use your ring finger and kind of dab/pat a small amount on the center of your eyelids, moving it outward. Your lids should look glossy, but not like an oil spill. Avoid the crease so the product does not gather there.
- Apply waterproof mascara to top lashes. You can leave the bottom lashes bare if you want to cut down on the possibility of smudging, but I kind of like the look of it being a bit messy, like on the girl above. It’s so effortlessly cool. You’ll totally be that girl who doesn’t try too hard but winds up looking amazing.
A few other tips: If you’re going to rock glossy lids, you want to make sure your skin is not oily, so use a good mattifying powder. I also define my brows, use Powderazzi on my cheeks, and then pat a tiny bit of Rosebud Salve on my cheeks, just to give my complexion a healthy glow. But overall, do not overdo it with the gloss or you will look craazy. Trust! A little practice makes perfect with this makeup application. When you get it right, it looks really cool.
How To: Eyebrow Shading
In an attempt to save a little bit of cash, I stopped getting my eyebrows threaded and started grooming them myself. I know. Scary. But I thought I knew enough about it to take on this serious endeavor myself.
Plus, I was becoming that girl when I laid down on my esthetician’s table: not too thin, not too much off the arch, keep them long at the ends, etc. If I knew exactly how I wanted them, why didn’t I just do them myself? (Maybe I even overhead her mutter that a time or two.)
By making this decision, I may have saved myself $25 a month, but I lost countless hours staring in the mirror plucking one. hair. at. a. time. Debating over that hair. Or will that throw off my brow symmetry?
And it gets worse. (Or better. Depending on your point of view.) I never used to use any eyebrow product. I remember walking into Sephora and a makeup artist swooping down on me with a wand of brow gel in hand saying, Darling, I simply have to use this on you! It will make all the difference on your face! I waved her away. Brow gel? Whatevz. I was probably looking for another tube of lip gloss. Silly, girl! If I only knew then what I know now: Brows are where it’s at. First I tried the gel, I mean, it’s so easy. Just swipe it on and go, then pencil, but now I’ve graduated to the brow majors–shading with the powder eyeshadow and angled brush. And I’m telling you, there’s no going back! It’s the best. Here’s how:
Step 1: Pick an eyeshadow that matches your brow shade. I’m using an Aveda brown.
Step 2: Comb your eyebrows with an eyebrow comb or a clean mascara wand.
Step 3: To figure out the correct length of your brows, take a pencil and angle it from your nose to the outer corner of your eye. Where the eyebrow meets the brush (or should meet the brush) is where your eyebrow should end.
Step 4: Take an angled eyebrow brush. I’ve been using my fav Stila Brush #10. Apply your shadow in short brush strokes, shading in your brows.
Step 5: Comb through your eyebrows again with your comb to blend. Voila! Perfect eyebrows.
The key is to use the correct shade of eyeshadow for your brows, and to use a really great angled brush!
CoverGirl LashBlast Length Mascara
In general, I’m a fan of waterproof mascaras. They tend to be less clumpy, they stay put longer, and they hold curl better. I have fairly long lashes, but they are fair, so I curl them with my Shu Uemura eyelash curler and then I like a super dark mascara that’s going to hold the curl and not drop my lashes the second I apply it.
But wearing a waterproof mascaras all the time gets to be annoying since it’s so hard to remove. (Anyone have a recommendation for an amazing remover? I’m on the hunt.) So I’ve been in the market for an everyday mascara, and that’s where CoverGirl’s new LashBlast Length mascara comes in. It includes a Elasta-Nylon formula that helps lashes bend without flaking, and I must say this mascara simply does not flake. It stays put and doesn’t clump, which is awesome. It also really lengthens my lashes–it’s perfect for day use and gives my lashes a really natural, fresh-faced look. You won’t get fat lashes with this mascara, but you will get noticeable length. It also washes off very easily with face wash–no eye makeup remover necessary.
However, I did find the color (I tried Black) to be a bit light and not a glossy intense black like I prefer. The mascara wand is also extremely long a little unwieldy because it’s so flexible. I like shorter, sturdier mascara wands, but it seems like every drugstore mascaras is going in the opposite direction with their mascaras!
Overall, I like this mascara for day use when you want a natural, fresh-faced look. I would like to try the Very Black shade next time and see if that makes a difference in the color for me. Also, just to let you guys know, this mascara does come in waterproof, too. Price: $7.79
An editorial sample was provided by the company so I could review this product. Please see my About page for further information on Disclosure policies.
Stila Brush #10
I thought I’d lost my Stila #10 brush, but I found it today. Yay!! It’s supposedly an eyebrow brush, but I use it to apply gel eyeliner–the kind that comes in a pot, like my Pixi gel liner. It creates a perfectly smooth cat-eye look. It’s the BEST brush. It has a super long handled and very stiff-angled bristles, which provides maximum control when applying precises liner. This is the only Stila brush I own, but I have read good reviews about the whole Stila brush line. Price: $20.00
CARGO Guide to Surviving the Holidays
It’s that time of year again. Long workdays turn into nights on the town with friends, holiday parties and an all-around packed social calendar. So what tips, tricks and beauty products do you need right now to help you out, no matter what’s on your schedule day or night? The make-up artists at CARGO Cosmetics have narrowed it down to five easy steps for women to look, feel and be fabulous this holiday season:
Step 1: Mattifier, Concealer, Powder
For a sheer, natural-looking base, use CARGO’s blu_ray High Definition Mattifier to refine pores, minimize lines and mattify in one simple step–while keeping your skin oil-free all day long.
Next, hide telltale evidence of late night parties with blu_ray Concealer. Under-eye circles and blemishes be gone! This miracle product, formulated with Visilox–a Botox alternative–brightens, tightens and lightens skin to keep you looking fresh under harsh office lights or the warm glow of the fireplace.
Finally, set your look with blu_ray Pressed Powder. Photochromatic pigments automatically color correct make-up, so that color always remains consistent and natural-looking. Ultra-fine particles fill in fine lines, while micronized light diffusers camouflage imperfections. The result: great coverage that looks completely natural. Smile for your close up!
Step 2: Get Your Glow On
Find out why CARGO’s Bronzers are famously loved by make-up artists and beauty editors alike. It’s easy to look sculpted and sexy all season long with a little help from these wonder products. For a sun-kissed glow, brush Bronzer above the brow bone, under the cheek bone and along the jaw line – tracing an ‘E’ and a ‘3’ on either side of your face. Next, apply Bronzer under the chin to create a shadow that slims the face – just in case you enjoyed too many sweet treats during last week’s festivities! Finally, add a pop of color to the apples of your cheeks with CARGO’s pro-artist favorite Blushes, for a sexy, cold-weather flush.
The rest of CARGO Cosmetics’ make-up artists holiday tips after the break.
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