2011 Post Round-Up: My Most Popular Posts!

Today is the last day of 2011 and I thought it would be nice to round up my most popular posts in terms of hits and comments... and some of my favorites! I figured this would give new followers a chance to read some of my older posts and avid readers a chance to catch ones they may have missed! Let's go, shall we?

To access the post, click on the image!

1) My First Inglot Haul:

2) Finding a dupe for Mac's Candy Yum Yum Lipstick:

3) Cover Girl Lip Perfection Overview:

4) Remember when Wet n Wild shocked the blogger world? I do!

5) The tome of Mac lipsticks:

Hope you enjoyed the walk down memory lane! Would you be interested in a products roundup?

Rimmel Scandaleyes Mascara Review

I picked up the new Rimmel Scandaleyes Mascara recently and thought I'd do a review! I've only used this mascara a couple of times. One was a test overnight to see how it held up, and the other was a normal application in the morning.

This was $7.29 at Walgreens, which I find to be a little pricey for Rimmel, but I wanted to be able to test it now instead of waiting until cheaper stores finally decide to stock it. The tube is certainly cute and eyecatching with it's bright orange color! It's also HUGE. I mean, seriously huge. I'll do a quick comparison in another post of it to Maybelline The Colossal. Scandaleyes literally dwarfs the tube of Colossal.

It doesn't look that large here, but trust me, it is. A small issue with the brush itself is that the mascara collects on the edge of the wand, as it often does with many mascaras. I've found very few that don't do this, and it's usually because they've put bristles on the tip of the wand as well. It's sort of a standard 'fat' bristle brush, not like Lash Blast as those are more synthetic/plastic spikes, but these are actual bristles like you'd find on a hair brush. It's slightly wider at the base than at the tip.

Application is a little bit of a doozy. The wand is very large, as I've said, so it makes it difficult to apply for someone that has small eyes, such as myself. I found it hard to get the outer edges of my lashes (you'll see it in the photos) and I bumped my lid a few times with the tip, so I ended up with mascara on my eyelid.

For reference, here are my naked lashes:

Then here are my lashes after 1 coat of Scandaleyes:

 

As you can see, the mascara made my lashes noticeably darker and fuller, and added a lot of length. My lashes are decently long but are thin, light colored, and tend to stick straight out and curl at the ends. A good mascara will lift my lashes from the base and I won't need to use a lash curler. This one is no exception -- I get good lift and definition.

This is after 2 coats:

I got a bit of clumping this time because I let the first coat dry a little too long. Adding the second coat provided more volume, but I feel like it weighed down my lashes a little more. I would personally go for one coat with this mascara and be done. The 2nd also gave an opportunity for more mascara to end up on my lids, as you can see. I still had a problem on the 2nd coat with accessing the outer edge of my lashes due to the size of the brush.

Overall, this mascara is good, but not spectacular. It may grow on me as I use it (and it dries out a little more; the formula on mascara almost always changes in the first week or two) but right now, I feel like The Colossal is easier to use. It merits similar results but with a smaller brush that is easier to manage. I love the packaging and the formula is quite nice (I haven't had any bleeding, rundown or fading), but I feel like the mascara suffers overall from the oversized brush. Check this out if you like mascaras like Big Fake from Collection 2000 or Cover Girl Lash Blast.

Grade: B-, grade pushed up because Rimmel needed a 'fat' wand mascara in their line! It's a good addition in that sense.

PINK

Yep. It's pink!

 

It looks a bit weird in the lighting here, but it's exactly what I wanted. I didn't want vibrant and crazy but instead a more subdued pink that would fade nicely. I do have to touch up a few sections this weekend as some areas got lighter than others, so the dye needed to be left on longer in some parts. I managed to fix the front bits (the front most layers) that refused to dye with a couple of foils and about 15 minutes of dye sitting on them, so that was a test for the rest of it. The color is just Manic Panic's Cotton Candy Pink over slightly gingery blonde hair.

What do you think? Would you rock the ombre hair style?

Current Hair (Ombre) and OOTD!

Just a quick post to talk a bit about my hair and my OOTD :)

Nearly no makeup and looking ragged (SO tired today) but I thought you guys would be interested. I plan on doing the blonde sections in a pale pink. Because my hair is so dark and I don't like damaging it (who does?), me and the girl who does my hair decide to do 2 bleach sessions using 10 volume developer each time, instead of say, 20 or 30. It got pretty light with the first round of 10 under a hair dryer, so we figure the next bleaching should get it pale enough to put the pink on. We'll see... we're bleaching again tomorrow so that I had time to deep condition it twice. It's looking a little worse for the wear right now as I badly need a trim; she's going to do that after the bleaching is done so my ends are frazzled, sorry!

Onto my outfit and a closeup of my tights for today:

Top: Old Navy

Necklace: New York and Company

Skirt: The Limited (a gift from my lovely husband!)

Tights: Unknown, gift

Shoes: Burlington Coat Factory, Mootsies Tootsies brand

That's all I have for now!

FOTD: Christmas!

You've probably seen a million of these... I'll just add to the pile ;-).

FACE:

- Revlon PhotoReady foundation in Ivory

- Mac MSF Natural in Light Medium
- Maybelline Super Stay Concealer in Cream

- Mac MSF in Semi Precious Crystal Pink

EYES:

- Too Faced Shadow Insurance

- Darling Girl Glitter Glue

- Sugarpill eyeshadow in Goldilux

- Sugarpill eyeshadow in Asylum

- Sugarpill eyeshadow in Junebug

- MUA Shimmer Pencil in Green

- Physician's Formula gel liner set for blue eyes (black)

- Jessie's Girl eye dust in Pixie Dust

- Maybelline The Colossal mascara

LIPS:

- Jordana LOL gloss in ASAP

My First Photoshoot - Pics from Behind the Scenes

My friend from high school, Deanna, contacted me last week about a photoshoot that she was doing this past Sunday. Deanna is a designer and wanted to do a wintery, Nutcracker themed shoot. I got only a little information about it before I accepted, and she was quite busy leading up to it so I went in not knowing what to expect.

I arrived after packing my traincase with what I could, having such little information other than a theme, and found out that we had 10 models... and one makeup artist. Oh, wow. I was suddenly feeling very overwhelmed but I knew that being the only MUA meant that not only was everyone relying on me, but that I'd have a little creative freedom as well.

Here are the pics, I'd expect the pro pics to come out sometime in the next week and I will post them here. I will do my best to remember what I used on everyone but after so many models, it blends together! There was 1 model that I did not work on, so I actually did work on 9 of the 10.

Model #1 had the role of one of the Arabian performers, so I did a 'typical' Arabic eye on her with lots of dark eyeliner. The eyeshadows were gold and copper from the BeautyUK #2 palette, and the black liner was Physician's Formula. It had small flecks of bronze in it and was perfect for the look. I contoured her cheeks with the 88 palette, used Hard Candy Living Doll blush and applied Estee Lauder Radiant Wine on the lips.

Model #2 was one of the Russians. I kept it neutral on her and used the Wet n Wild matte palette with a little bit of the Vanity palette on her eyes, Ulta Halo eyeliner on the waterline, Jessie's Girl Eye Dust in Pixie Dust (I'm going to call this Pixie Dust from now on because it got used a lot) and Sleek Suede blush on the cheeks. I contoured with the 88 palette, including her neck and collarbones. On the lips was MUA lipstick in Shade 9.

Model #3 played the role of the Nutcracker prince and I kept it simple with him. He already had good skin so I just did a little bit of matte skintone eyeshadow on his lids, a shimmery gold on his tear ducts to bring light to his features, dark grey liner on his waterline, and Sleek Scandalous blush on his cheeks. I also added a touch of e.l.f. Ruby Slippers to his lips to give them more definition in photos, and for a rosy look.

Model #4 was the adult Clara, and I wanted something special for her! Her eyes were the Wet n Wild Comfort Zone palette mixed with the Vanity palette and Smashbox Graphite liner. I patted Pixie Dust all over her lids and cheeks. I contoured with Mac Prism and applied Mac Sakura blush for a rosy glow. On the lips was Jordana Cabernet lipliner with Sephora Crush lipstick over top. By the way, that lipstick has SERIOUS lasting power! I never had to touch her lips up.

Model #5 was the child Clara. I wasn't super happy with my efforts on her makeup; I was distracted and had a lot going on. I used Comfort Zone again on her eyes but darkened the outer edges too much for my liking. Her blush was Hard Candy Living Doll and the usual contour. Her lips were Boots Rose Bud lipstick with e.l.f. Fairy gloss over top.

Model #6 was another Russian. I kept her really simple; similar eyes to #2 but changed to suit her eye shape, more contouring, and MUA Shade 9 lipstick to match the other model.

Model #7 was one of three faeries, namely the 'icy' one! I used a load of shadows on her to give depth... a BeautyUK palette (the rainbow one), Ben Nye Ice eyeshadow, and some shadows from the Sleek Bad Girl palette. Her waterline is Milani Liquif'eye in Blue and the upper lashline is Smashbox Graphite. The cheeks are the usual 88 palette/Hard Candy combo. Lips were Mac Hellraiser lipstick with a little bit of Jessie's Girl Secret Weapon loose powder on the bottom lip.

Model #8 was the Sugar Plum Fairy. She was wearing plum and gold so I reflected that on her eyes. I intensified the makeup later on but this is how it looked initially. The gold was from the #2 Beauty UK palette and the purple was MUA Shade 9. I also used Pixie Dust to give an intense shimmer. On the lips was Boots Rose Bud with clear gloss over top.

Model #9 was my personal favorite for the makeup. I really got to go crazy with her as the hair stylist gave her an awesome punk rocker hair style. I felt she could rock a smokey eye so I used the Sleek Bad Girl palette (mostly the greys) and brought the color to her hair line. I used the Physician's Formula liner on all waterlines and lashlines, and applied Ardell lashes (I'm not sure of the number!). Heavy contouring and Mac Sakura on the cheeks. Milani Black Cherry lipstick on the lips with Jordana Cabernet underneath.

Pfew! I'm tired just trying to remember what I used! What do you guys think?! I am so happy that it went well!

Hunger Games Inspired: Rue

This look was requested by Robyn so I was much obliged... I mean, how could I not? Rue is awesome!

Rue is from District 11, whose specialty is agriculture -- specifically, orchards, grain and cotton. I went with the orchard theme and did my look with mostly greens. I used a light matte pink on my waterline that you unfortunately can't see in photos, but in person it looks like a flower blossom amongst the green or something. I also used a glowy blush to give a youthful look (Rue is only 12) and a pale pink lipstick, again for a younger look. As a side note, I wore an apple printed shirt, just to be quirky ;-).

The photos really don't do this look justice -- 412P from Inglot is a REALLY intense shimmering green with gold flash and it made the entire look shine. 

FACE:

- Cover Girl Aqua Smoothers Tinted Moisturizer in Fair to Light

- Mac MSF Natural in Light Medium
- Maybelline Super Stay Concealer in Cream

- Hard Candy blush in Living Doll

EYES:

- Too Faced Shadow Insurance

- NYX Jumbo Pencil in Horseradish (quite a thick layer)

- BeautyUK Eyeshadow Palette in Soho, lighter green all over the lid and lower lashline

- Inglot eyeshadow 44AS to darken crease and lower lashline

- Inglot eyeshadow 412P to blend out the crease, and on the inner corner

- Sleek PPQ Palette, eyeshadow in Pink Beret on lower waterline

- e.l.f. Shimmer Pencil in Precious Pink (lower waterline base)

- Wet n Wild Color Icon liner in Green (upper lashline)

- Maybelline One by One mascara (Black)

LIPS:

- Clinique Long Last Lipstick in Silvery Moon

Hunger Games Inspired: Cinna

Today I did a look inspired by Cinna! He's Katniss' designer and counselor before the Games. There isn't much description for him, other than that he has short brown hair and mentions of gold eyeliner. There's no description on the eyeliner so I did something more subtle than dramatic, maybe even as a guy would wear?

Here's the look, I'm not 100% pleased with it as the gold liner ended up being more silvery and light than I wanted. I used a pale gold as an inner corner highlight and brought it under my eye in an attempt to make my eyes look bigger, but it just look like fallout, haha.

FACE:

- Cover Girl Aqua Smoothers Tinted Moisturizer in Fair to Light

- Mac MSF Natural in Light Medium
- Maybelline Super Stay Concealer in Cream

- Mac MSF in Semi Precious Crystal Pink

EYES:

- Too Faced Shadow Insurance

- Revlon matte eyeshadow in Vintage Lace

- Matte medium brown eyeshadow from Wet n Wild Vanity Palette

- Pale gold eyeshadow from Wet n Wild Vanity Palette

- Mac eyeshadow in Espresso

- Physician's Formula Gel Liner Set for Blue Eyes: Brown

- Physician;s Formula Glam Gel Liner Set for Brown Eyes: Gold

- Maybelline Lash Stiletto Mascara in Black Brown

LIPS:

-Mac Lipglass in Nymphette

Stay tuned for more intense looks -- the "girl on fire", President Snow and a 2nd Katniss look! I will also be doing a look for Rue, as requested by Robyn :)

Top 10 Favorite Lipsticks!

I recorded a video for The Makeup Heroes on my top-10-cannot-live-without lipsticks. Here's the video:



I also took swatch pictures so that you can see the colors a little easier than in the video.

Cover Girl Lip Perfection in Siren. $5-$8.

Maybelline Color Sensational in Pink Please. $4-$7.

Mac Amplified in Up the Amp. $14.50.

Mac Matte in Lady Danger. $14.50.

Boots Natural Collection in Rose Bud. £1.99.

e.l.f. Matte Lip Color in Coral. $3.

Milani Lip Flash in Hot Flash. $4-$7.

Mac Lipglasses in Nymphette and Sonoran Rain. $14.50.

NYC Lipstain in Forever Mine Wine. $2.99.

All of the lipsticks together now:

Hope you enjoyed! What are your favorites?