That Mineral Glow

All I have to do to look a little sunkissed is put on my Korres Mineral Foundation in Porcelain!  It also gives me a really pretty and controlled glow.  I forgot how much I like this.  Yes, I added a little bronzer to the edges of my face and even down my neck (for once, I remembered).  It turned out to be a really nice summer look.  I'm also wearing Guerlain Turandot, Illamasqua Tweak blusher, and Fresh Sugar Coral lip treatment.

Soft Orchid

Here's a quick post with a look from last week.  I don't recall the complete breakdown of products that I used, but I can definitely remember some of the key ones!

For base, I used Smashbox CC Cream in Fair.  The blush is Illamasqua Morale with Armani Belladonna palette as highlight.

On my eyes, I started with Laura Mercier Caviar Stick in Orchid.  Then I layered on a bit of Chanel Illusion d'Ombre in Impulsion (inner corner).  I used Chanel Illusion d'Ombre Diapason to darker the crease and outer corner.  Then some Stila Bliss to blend out the crease.  I added a bit of the dark charcoal shadow from the Chante Wild Horses palette to my outer corner.  And I smudged UD Psychedelic Sister eyeliner pencil into the lash lines.  I used a pastel purple Korres pencil on my waterline.

I just have some Hourglass lip oil on my lips.  Geez, they look so blotchy to me like this.  It's odd how I'm so aware of the uneven tone in photographs but don't seem to notice it in the mirror.

I got a few compliments on my eyes, so I wouldn't mind recreating this exact look or a similar one soon!  I mean.  PURPLE.  Always so good.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

BECCA Ultimate Coverage Complexion Crème Porcelain

Last night I Google searched to see if anyone had swatched or worn the new BECCA Ultimate Coverage foundation, specifically in Porcelain, of course.  I found nothing.  So I thought I would do my good deed of adding a little review on it.

Let me first apologize for less than awesome pictures taken in haste as I was rushing out the door. Secondly, I have to apologize for my messy hurrs and my forehead rash.  Umm.  Okay, that's enough apologizing for now!!

You can see that the foundation does have pretty good coverage.  Not enough to fully hide my rash or cover every single freckle or blemish.  But still, pretty darn good.  I was in such a hurry by the time I put my foundation on that I didn't even bother to spot conceal, save for a bit of Clinique Airbrush under the eyes.

I applied the foundation using my Make Up For Ever 108 brush.  I immediately noticed that it has a rather thick, almost sticky texture.  It really did not glide on easily.  My cheeks looked kind of awful after the brush application (every pore looking much worse than normal) so I took my finger tips and quickly patted and tapped over those areas, which thankfully seemed to help quite a lot.  I'm speculating that had I used my Beauty Blender, I would not have run into that problem.  Also, it's worth noting that I did not build up the coverage much at all.  I just put down as even of a base layer as I could.  I do not enjoy super full coverage, so I didn't even think about trying for it.

I set it with Nars Light Reflecting Loose.  The finish on its own is pretty matte, at least on me.  It did not feel heavy or noticeable at all on my skin, which is always awesome with fuller coverage formulas.

Color-wise, this Porcelain by BECCA is by far the best match for me of the BECCA Porcelains that I have tried (Radiant and Mineral but not Matte).  I dare say it matches my skin tone about perfectly.  It did not oxide on me.  I find the color to be relatively neutral and even a little peachy, to my eye.

And now for the part that is really the most important of all to me.  The wear.  I got complimented by a client who asked me what foundation I was wearing, so that's a good start!  But that was pretty early on in my day.  By the time I took my break, I noticed, much to my dismay, some signs of crap wear just around my nose.  It had been on for five hours.  I was able to blot my nose and gently apply some LM Smooth powder foundation to the areas that looked worn, which helped very much.  When I checked again at nine hours in, it looked a little broken down around my nose, yet again, only about half as bad as the first time.  It was an odd breakdown for me because it looked dry and a little shiny all at the same time.  Curses on my nose.

What else?  It did not feel moisturizing or drying in any way.  When I removed my makeup at the 12 hour mark, it was looking a bit dry and just slightly patchy on several areas of my face (cheeks and jawline for sure).  Overall, nothing too scary, though.

I think it's safe to say that this is probably not going to be a new favorite for me.  I'm too easily annoyed by my nose doing naughty things to foundations.  I would like to play around with it a bit more, though, to see if I can get a better result with different skincare products underneath, different primer, and/or different application methods.  I am for sure pleasantly surprised by the awesomely near perfect color and the really ample coverage.  I really didn't enjoy the application today, though.  I sort of felt like I was trying to apply glue.  I would say that the wear was average to slightly above average for me, overall.

Would you like this foundation?  Maybe!  It's worth a try.  If you have texture issues or don't do well with finicky application, then you can probably skip this.  Also, if you have dry or very dry skin, I can't imagine it being a good pairing.  If you do try it, let me know what you think.

If you are wondering about anything else on my face, I'll give you a quick and dirty breakdown!  Cheeks -  Illamasqua Naked Rose and Laura Mercier Baked Highlight 01; Lips - Urban Decay Naked Ultra Nourishing Lipgloss in Walk of Shame; Eyes - black kohl pencil, Fyrinnae Purgatory, RBR Sweet Dust Seriema, and MUG Shimma Shimma.

The Naked lipgloss basically tastes and smells like nothing, but not exactly nothing.  It reminds me of plastic and chemicals or something, if you can imagine.  It doesn't linger, though, thankfully.  It's a very smooth formula, not drying, but not terribly long lasting (needs to be reapplied about every two hours).

Nomadic Soul

I don't usually feel so strongly about any given look, but the one featured above, I just absolutely love.  I copied the eyes from a picture of a model found on the internet - not sure where the picture came from exactly or what designer, show, or makeup artist.  In any case, I'm most pleased because it turned out so well and was done in such a way that I don't think I would have ever thought to do, left to my own devices!  This particular combination of colors is not something I would ever think of.

Key items used:  Vincent Longo Water Canvas Porcelain, Tarte AC blush Peaceful, Dior Aurora 01 bronzer, BECCA Moonstone pressed Shimmering Skin Perfector, Dior Iconic Overcurl mascara, Tarina Tarantino Mr. Gold/Mr. Silver eyeshadow duo, dark brown eyeshadow from Tarte Aqualillies palette, Stila Silk eyeshadow, and Tarte Lip Luster in Buff.

I love it all so much that I'd be content to recreate it any day and wear it over and over.  Many thanks to ella343 of MUA MUB for providing much needed inspiration.  <3

For the above look, I used Shiseido Ghost eyeshadow, Rouge Bunny Rouge eyeshadows Lilac Reef Curassow and Alabaster Starling, Laura Mercier Caviar Stick in Twilight, UD Stray Dog eyeliner pencil, Rimmel Pop Turquoise mascara, Illamasqua Katie blush, and YSL Glossy Stain #1 (a patchy, finicky, awful, yet beautiful thing).  Observe my lack of brows here.

The above pictures feature the Shiseido Lido eyeshadow trio, UD Freak, LSD, and Deep End eyeliners, Givenchy Bucolic Poppy Blush, BECCA pressed SSP Moonstone, and Givenchy Le Rouge Beige Plume lipstick (which I heart so hard).

The above really simple face (simple looking, yet still took much too much time, somehow!) featured a bunch of Benefit products including:  Posie Tint (lips), Bella Bamba blush, Dandelion, High Beam, Watts Up, The Bronze of Champions kit, Bad Gal black waterproof eyeliner pencil, They're Real, 15 hour primer stick, and Hello Flawless powder in Ivory.

For this one, I used Armani Eyes To Kill Intense eyeshadow #30 (love, love, love), RBR Lilac Reef Curassow, LM Caviar Stick Orchid, Nars Barrow Street eyeliner, and Too Faced Lip Injection Color Bomb Bigger Berry.

Here I had used the Karl for Shu Uemura Smoky Velvet palette (for blush, too - and even used the ridiculously tiny included brush to apply it) and Shiseido Lacquer Rouge in Deep Coral.  The white sparklies on the lid were much nicer and sparklier in person.

This is just an eye look using the Lorac Pro palette!  You don't get to see the face pictures because I am not keen on them at all.  I was sick, and it really showed.  :(

I'm having a hard time remember exactly what was used here, but I know for sure that the stars are Armani Eyes to Kill Intense eyeshadow in Blue Beetle (over top of a dark gray cream stick) and Lipstick Queen Hello Sailor lipstick.  I believe that I used Tarte AC Stellar blush as well as BECCA blush in Gypsy (lightly, sort of as a highlight).

And last, but not least, an eye look using Stila's In the Moment palette and UD Psychedelic Sister eyeliner pencil...I think.

My apologies for not posting in a long time.  It seems like every day I delete I don't know how many super annoying spam comments from both my blogs (most coming in to my nail blog), but rarely ever see a comment from a real, live, caring person!  It's not even the lack of comments that bothers me - it's more the spam.  SPAMMERS BE GONE!  Ugh.  Okay, glad I got that off my chest.  Otherwise, and more importantly, life has been extra challenging, emotional, and sad for me as of late.  Thanks for stopping by and I hope you'll forgive my absence.  I think that within a few weeks I'll likely be in a better headspace.

As always, I hope you enjoyed the makeup!

Mauvewood in Action

Face:
Dr. Jart + Renewalist BB Beauty Balm
BareMinerals Stroke of Light Luminous 1
Nars Light Reflecting Loose Powder

Cheeks:
Dior Aurora 01
Illamasqua Katie
Laura Mercier Baked Matte Radiance Highlight 01

Eyes:
WnW Fergie eye primer
Tarte SmolderEYES chubby pencil Silver Black (lid base)
Shu Uemura Prestigious Bordeaux palette
- dark purple on the lid, blended into crease
- lavender on the inner crease
- beigey tan as transition
- coppery brown smudged into lowers
- sparkly gold on inner lowers
UD Smog e/l pencil on lowers, under shadow
Stila Smudge Stick Damsel (waterline)
Stila black liner pen (tightline)
Hourglass Arch Soft Brunette
Perfekt clear brow gel
PTR Lashes to Die For mascara (base)
Guerlain Maxi Lash
CG Clump Crusher water resistant (lowers)

Lips:
Sephora + Pantone Astral Lip Glaze "Mauvewood"


I love this!  I'm only grumpy with myself for not seeing that my inner crease on my left eye was badly in need of blending/toning down.  Well, to be fair, I did see it as soon as I was in my car on my way to work!  Something about that car mirror reveals all truths.

I wish the camera had better captured the really cool multi-colored shimmer of the purple shadow on my lids.  The silver glitter in the base is dominating where I feel in person it was much more delicate, dimensional, and just plain magic.  Yes, to me, pretty shiny sparkly = magic.

What do you think of Mauvewood?  Lovely, isn't it?

Eclipse Eagle

Face:
Nars Light Optimizing primer (under eye)
Tarte BB Tinted Treatment Primer Fair
Illamasqua Concealer 115 (spots)
BareMinerals Stroke of Light Luminous 1 (under eye)
Nars Light Reflecting Powder Loose

Cheeks:
Too Faced Bronzed & Poreless bronzer
Illamasqua Hussy
Sephora Microsmooth Luminizer 01 Stardust

Eyes:
WnW Fergie eye primer
Inglot AMC Pure Pigment loose e/s #35 (lid into crease)
RBR Eclipse Eagle (crease)
RBR Snowy Egret (inner corner)
MUG Shimma Shimma (brow bone)
Lorac Posh e/s (transition)
RBR Volcano Fairy-Wren (outer corner)
UD Oil Slick e/l
UD Ether e/l (lowers)
Stila Stay All Day black liner pen (tightline)
Hourglass Arch Soft Brunette
PTR Lashes to Die For mascara (base)
Dior Iconic Overcurl 
CG Clump Crusher water resistant (lowers)

Lips:
Hourglass Aura Sheer Lip Stain Flush


There's just something about this that I can't put my finger on - I look feverish?  Maybe it's the blush.  In any case, I really like the eyes.  I think Eclipse Eagle is going to be a versatile taupe for me!  Gotta love a taupe that loves you back.

Fyrinnae in the Morning

This one is hot and now!  I literally still have this makeup on my face, as I type.  Sorry I disappeared for a while.  Things just got really rough with my personal life...and they still are, honestly.  It's hard to care about makeup when life feels like it is spinning out of control.

Back to the makeup.  I took these pictures at about 7:10 this morning.  It was gloomy out, so the light sucked.  Also, you may have noticed my super drama eye shadow shape.  That was thanks to tape.  I had this idea that doing taped eyes would somehow be easier - would allow me to have my cake and eat it, too (that is, have dramatic, cool eyes with minimal effort).  I'm not so sure about that, now, after the fact!

It was fun for a change of pace, though.  I can say I totally love this really angular shape on my eyes, but it definitely stands out.  I also think my color placement with the three different shades was sloppy.

Red Panda (the shade in the center) looks kind of pinky-coral here but seemed more red to me in person.  My eyes look extra awesome with the pool reflecting in them!

I know what you are going to say.  You wish I had blended out the edges more.  Right?!  Well, I have to agree.  And Lord knows I did try.  Probably the Pixie Epoxy made it harder to blend and no doubt the super sharp line I got from using the tape also made it a challenge to soften the edges.

Face:
GA Maestro Fusion 3
Illamasqua Concealer 115
BareMinerals Stroke of Light Luminous 1
Fyrinnae Fluff (under eyes and in the t-zone)
Fyrinnae Sunkissed Finishing Powder

Cheeks:
Too Faced Bronzed & Poreless Bronzer
Illamasqua Ambition
Sephora Microsmooth Luminzer 01 Stardust (dupe for Nars Albatross)

Eyes:
Wet 'n Wild Fergie Eye primer (this is really great!)
Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy
Fyrinnae Sake & Sashimi (outer half lid and crease)
Fyrinnae Red Panda (center of lid and crease)
Fyrinnae Shenanigans (inner third of lid)
Lorac Posh e/s (brow bone and to blend edges)
Stila Smudge Stick Damsel
Jordana brown pen liner (tight line)
Hourglass Arch Soft Brunette
Givenchy Noir Couture waterproof

Lips:
Stila Color Balm Lipstick Isla


The bottom line here is that I would do a lot of things differently if I did this look over again.  Mostly with my eeeeyyyyeees, which I am clearly obsessing over!  The rest of the face I quite like.  :)

Also, if you've not yet seen Fyrinnae eyeshadows in person, you are missing out!  They are just so super sparkly duochromey amazingly pretty.  Go get you some.