YSL Fusion Ink B10

I'm going to attempt to keep this short and sweet since I'm kind of tired.  I do want to share my thoughts about trying the new YSL Fusion Ink foundation, though, so TA-DA!  Here it is and here I am and I'm happy to say that overall I am quite pleased with it.

I'm wearing B10 here and have applied it using my fingertips.  It feels very silky and slippery, much like the Armani Maestro does.  This one has a bit more coverage, though, and also takes a little longer to dry down, which gives you a good amount of play time to blend and move about.  The finish is very velvety smooth, but not dry or flaky.  Keep in mind that my skin is relatively normal, but I do have a dry skinned friend that is loving this formula as well (and I am surprised at that, really).  I think with good skincare underneath, even dry skinned folks could potentially enjoy this formula.

It did not emphasize pores or texture issues for me (and it's worth noting that I'm having all kinds of texture problems right now).  The coverage is light to medium in my opinion.  And the wear is really decent.  I chose not to blot my nose today to give it a sturdy test, and only toward hour eight and beyond did I notice any real shine on my nose.  It wasn't obnoxious shine, either, and the foundation beneath had not disintegrated, separated, or otherwise misbehaved to any significant degree.

The color match is ridiculously nice on me, would you agree?  It seems to be a very neutral shade and I'm liking that.  Any extra pinkness to my skin that you see is really just my naturally pink skin showing through.  I'm going to wager that B10 is similar to an N10-15 in "MAC" terms.

Here's a full break down of products, if you are curious.

Face:
Laura Mercier Radiance Primer
BECCA Ever Matte primer (just on nose)
YSL Fusion Ink Foundation B10
MUFE Full Cover 1 (spots)
BareMinerals Stroke of Light Luminous 1 (under eye)
Nars Light Reflecting Powder Loose

Cheeks:
Dior Aurora 01 Bronzer
Stila Custom Color Blush Coral
BECCA Gypsy
Holika Holika Highlighting Blush Twinkling Kitten

Eyes:
Wet 'N Wild Fergie Eye Primer
Essence Metal Glam N'Ice Frosting (lid)
Stila Rain (crease) and Air (brow bone) from In the Know palette
Stila Stay All Day liner in Paradise Pink
Stila Stay All Day liner in black (tight line)
Sephora Contour Eye Pencil in Blonde Ambition (inner lowers)
Kat Von D Immortal Lash mascara
UD Perversion mascara
Tarte Brow Architect Taupe
Milani clear brow gel

Lips:
Holika Holika Twinkling Kitten (cupid's bow)
Guerlain Rouge Automatique Reflex

I leave you with one last thought about the YSL foundation, and I think this goes without saying, but I'm going to say it anyway.  The applicator is absolutely bone chilling and a giant faux pas for me.  I just can't handle the thought of slapping that little wand onto my face and then plopping it back into the bottle.  ICK SQUIG help us all!!!  If I end up getting this foundation I will absolutely not be using that cray applicator to apply it, which makes the whole thing slightly inconvenient and awkward for sure.

As per my usual, I'm going to test this out a little further and see if I'm still liking it so much.  I'll be sure to update here if my initial thoughts change.

Zodiac Birthday

Intensely pretty - trying too hard!

It's my birthday!  So, look at my pretty face (from yesterday - but we can pretend I look this good today, as well).  :)

I was wearing the Ardency Inn Americana Custom Coverage Concentrate in Fair Pink mixed with Laura Mercier Radiance Primer, Benefit Rockateur, Laura Geller Cantaloupe, a black Jordana jumbo eye pencil as a base, UD Zodiac for green sparkles, Smashbox Full Exposure mattes to blend out edges, and Lipstick Queen Hang Ten lipstick.  Also, loving the new Lancome Grandiose mascara!

I have no major makeup plans for today, but I am okay with that.  Hope you all have a great day!

The Usual Vampy Stuff

Face:
BECCA Ever-Matte primer (just on my nose)
Ardency Inn Americana Fair Pink mixed with LM Radiance Primer
MUFE Full Cover 1
BareMinerals Stroke of Light Luminous 1 (under eye)
Nars LRP Loose (under eye mostly)
MUFE Super Matte Loose 12 (around and on nose)
D&G The Foundation Powder Ivory 50 (forehead)

Cheeks:
Dior Aurora 01 bronzer (soft contour)
Benefit Hervana
BECCA Gypsy

Eyes:
WnW Fergie eye primer
Marc Jacobs black Highliner pencil
Illamasqua Precision gel liner (tight line)
MUG Corrupt
MUG Burlesque
MUG Shimma Shimma (inner corner)
Too Faced Salted Carmel (transitions)
Lorac Chic Baked Matte Satin e/s (brow bone)
UD Perversion mascara
Clinique Bottom Lash black mascara (lowers)
Tarte The Brow Architect Fair/Light (just the pencil part used)

Lips:
Stila Color Balm Lipstick Isla


I know.  It's a crazy amount of complexion products happening, especially for me!  This is me wanting and needing full coverage complexion but not wanting it to feel, look, or act heavy (read:  misbehave).  It was relatively successful, I'm happy to say!  The Ardency Inn Americana + LM Radiance primer base mix did really well for me.  Mad science has finally paid off.  :)  And using the D&G powder lightly to set my forehead (the area I'm trying most to cover), worked well, too.  I can't believe all that held up through a long day at work, but pretty much it did.  I think I only did a slight touch up around my nose and between my brows once, while on my break.  My nose was decidedly shiny by hour nine, but I can live with that, and could have done another proper blot.

Salted Caramel from the Too Faced Chocolate Bar palette is fast becoming a favorite crease and/or transition color.  I can't tell you how much I adore it.  Also, a huge rave for BECCA Gypsy mineral blush, which is a solid fave for blush transitioning!  Who would know that I would become such a transition freak?  I'm loving Gypsy just on top of my cheekbones paired with nearly every blush.  Sometimes I skip the highlight, sometimes I add one over top, just on the high points.

More new stuff - the Urban Decay Perversion mascara.  I really love this!!  But it's not suitable for use on my lower lashes.  Can we say smudge city?  That happens to me with loads of mascaras.  It's perfect on the uppers, though.  I like that it gives me length, a touch of volume, good separation, glides on so easily, and is very black.  On my upper lashes I have no smudging, flaking, clumping, or otherwise egregious behavior.

I hope that everyone is enjoying a good summer!  I can't believe how freaking hot it is.

A Clash

Face:
Tarte BB primer Fair
Laura Mercier High Coverage Concealer for Under Eye 1
Nars LRP Loose (under eye)
Korres Mineral Foundation Porcelain
Korres Mineral Setting Powder

Cheeks:
BareMinerals Vintage Peach
Wet 'N Wild Fergie eye primer

BECCA Gypsy
Georgio Armani Belladonna palette

Eyes:
UD Electric Palette (Revolt, Jilted, Urban)
Lorac Baked Matte Satin e/s singles in Posh and Chic
Illamasqua Precision Gel Liner (tight line)
Bobbi Brown Gel Liner Black (upper lash line)
Kat Von D Immortal Lash mascara
Mally Volumizing mascara
Chanel Inimitable waterproof mascara Violet Touch (lowers)
Anastasia Ash Blonde/Taupe brow powder duo 
Milani clear brow gel

Lips:
Georgio Armani Lip Maestro #302 Clash

Fragrance: 
Hermès Un Jardin sur le Toit

Song (on repeat, no less):
The Killers "Shot at the Night"


I feel that it's worth mentioning that I have a wee bit of fake tan on.  I am testing out the Clarins Radiance-Plus Golden Glow Booster.  Last night I used three drops mixed in with my Ole Truth oil.  I was expecting that I'd look like a freaky version of myself this morning, after it developed, but it's really surprisingly subtle and nice.  It bumped me up maybe half a shade from what I normally am.  

Also, of note, is that I assembled this made-up face under the influence of migraine medications (which make my thought processes significantly slower and sludgier than normal - still suffering the mental delays 19 hours after having taken the meds).  I think I'm more creative and bold when medicated, though, which is ironic.  Sludgy, dolty, and unapologetically colorful!  That's me.  Now, can I have my brain back, please?  

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).

Winter Wonderland

Face:
Smashbox More Than Primer
KGD Aqua PK-0
BareMinerals Stroke of Light Luminous 1
Nars LRP Loose

Cheeks:
MAC Full of Joy
Sephora MicroSmooth Baked Winter Wonderland swirly luminizer

Eyes:
WnW Fergie eye primer
all eyeshadows from Sephora Winter Wonderland palette
UD Perversion e/l under smudged e/s (uppers)
UD Uzi e/l - waterline
UD 1999 e/l under smudged e/s (lowers)
Stila Stay All Day pen liner (tight line)
MUFE Smoky Extravagant
Blinc Amplified (lowers)
Anastasia brow powder duo Ash Blonde

Lips:
Too Faced Smurf gloss!  (seriously old, but I seriously love that thing)


Let me know if you have questions about the eyeshadows or anything else!

Dubstep Remix

Face:
Armani Fluid Master Primer
Koh Gen Doh Aqua PK-0 mixed with Ardency Inn Americana Fair Pink
BareMinerals Stroke of Light Luminous 1 (under eye)
Nars Light Reflecting Powder Loose
Guerlain Meteorites Perles du Paradis <3

Cheeks:
Laura Mercier Matte Radiance Baked Powder Highlight 01
Dior Rosy Glow

Eyes:
Wet 'N Wild Fergie eye primer
UD Shellshock
UD Dope
UD Voodoo
UD Coax
UD Lovesick
Tokidoki e/l pencil Mozzarella
Stila Stay All Day black pen liner
UD e/l pencil Psychedelic Sister
MUFE Smoky Extravagant
Blinc Kiss Me Amplified
MUFE Aqua Cream #7 (brows)

Lips:
Ardency Inn Modster Lip Vinyl Dubstep Remix
Tarte Lip Luster Adored


This was fun.  Seriously.  I'm sorry if I look hot and overly pink.  I was definitely warm when I took the pictures this morning.  Also, my hair is looking shabby!  I've been using my Urban Decay Vice 2 palette quite a bit lately.  I like it!  There are a few colors I still haven't touched yet, but overall I am having a good time with that palette.

This particular base mix did well until about hour nine, then it turned into total chaos on and around my nose.  It probably didn't help that I was on fire super duper hot right about then!  I still love the coverage of the Americana concentrate but I'm not sure I like how finicky it is.  Or maybe I'm expecting too much from my flawless full coverage base to last past eight or nine hours.  I've always had trouble with full coverage foundations.

I have some older looks from last week that I still need to post!  Hopefully I can do that soon.  :)  Thanks for stopping by!

La Dee Da

Yeah, I know.  I have posted in forever.  I'm sorry about that.  What can I say?  Here are some photos to make up for it (hopefully).  I'll write a little bit about each one, but I'm not going to go on and on because really, I probably can't remember all that much about any of them at this point!  And you probably want to just look at pictures versus read what I'm writing anyway.  :)

The eye above features Urban Decay Zodiac suuuuper sparkly eyeshadow over top of a dark base.  The lime color on the inner crease is an old single from either Tokidoki (Soya) or Tarina Tarantino (Tokyo Hardcore) - I'm thinking the former.  RBR Gracious Arasari to blend out the top of the crease.

In the full face above, I am wearing Stila CC Cream in Fair.  I've decided that it's too yellow and a little too dark for what I like.  Blush is Benefit Rockateur which is UGH so pretty on just about everyone but my sad self!  My lip color is a Susan Thompson Cosmetics Pout Popper in Evelyn's Journey.  It definitely plumped out my lips!

This is a look with Shiseido Into the Woods eyeshadow trio.  I really love the picture above!  I did add a little bit of dark matte brown from the Tarte Aqualillies palette (it's called Hammock) into the outer corner, which I think really made the eye complete for me.  I've used that brown a lot lately and love it!

I'm pretty sure I was wearing Givenchy Le Rouge Magnolia Organza above.  And I'm kicking myself because I'm not going to be able to remember the foundations or blushes in most of these pictures!!  This blush is Tarte Amazonian Clay Tipsy, though.  :)

Okay.  So, this is much too much of a good thing.  I was roughly emulating a Marc Jacob's intense smoky eye look here, but I think it's a tad too much for me!  Woah.  Reverse bandit mask.  Yeah.  Scary bad blending thanks to a black base that set WAY too fast.

At least the rest of my face looks awesome here.  :P  No idea what is what - perhaps some Dior Rosy Glow blush?

I did not tight line here.  Eek!  The inner corner gold is Sugar Pill Goldilux.  I believe most, if not all, of the other shadows are from the Lorac Pro palette.  Given the little sparklies I see peeking through, I'm going to say I probably used Chanel Ebloui as my base here (or might have even been a bronzey GA ETKI shadow!).

Again, face looking relatively awesome here, and no stinking idea what I was wearing!!  If I had to guess, it's probably Smashbox CC Cream in Fair.  I've been using that a lot.

This is another sort of kind of Marc Jacob's dark smoky eye inspired look.  I used Urban Decay 1999 eyeliner pencil as a base for the lid, then UD Last Call eyeshadow over top.  The blue is from the Tokidoki Skate Deck palette.

I'm going to wager that I was wearing Dior Rosy Glow blush in this picture because I've been loving on that one hard lately!

This is a metallic eye featuring Ellis Faas Light in E303 (lid) and Urban Decay eyeliner pencil in Lucky.

I really love the blush and lip combination here, but of course haven't the foggiest idea what blush I was wearing (it's kind of amazing - I'm so mad at myself for not remembering)!  The lipstick was Givenchy Le Rouge in Beige Plume, which I have been mildly obsessed with for some number of months now, and only recently own.

Dark smoky eye using Chanel Illusion d'Ombre in Mirifique as a base and Ardency Inn loose eyeshadow in Teddy Boy over top (lid mostly).  Teddy Boy is dark red with turquoise sparkles - not that you can tell here.  I also supplemented with Lorac Pro.  A little sloppy, but mostly good.

This is a really silly, kind of shocked looking picture.  My lipstick is Bite Pastille Violet with some MAC Rebel in the center, over top.  I'm wearing Armani Fluid Sheer(s) as blush and highlight, but I'm not positive which ones.

The glitter here is about the only good thing going.  It's Urban Decay Spandex over Empire eyeliner pencil.  The all over wash is MAC paint pot in Let's Skate, which I do adore.  RBR Gracious Arasari is in the crease.  Top liner is UD Stray Dog pencil.  The mascara on the lower lashes is a lovely purple and blue duochrome from Butter London (Wink in Indigo Punk).

I can't remember anything about the rest of the look.  Sorry!  I mean, really, I could write this down or bother to keep track somehow.  Also, the liner shape, and perhaps lack of shadow depth/shape, made my eyes look down-turned and dopey.  :(  (It's true, honestly.  I picked the least bad picture to put above.)  Proof that I cannot just slap on eyeliner, following the natural shape of my eyes, and look good.

Above is a fab smoky look using just Urban Decay Naked 1 palette!  Niiiiiice.  I do enjoy this.

I'm sorry that my lashes look junky here, but in person I can assure you that they were just fine.  I've been loving Make Up For Ever's Smoky Extravagant very much lately, and while it doesn't always photo well in close ups, it looks freaking awesome on me in person.  It gives me fantastic length, volume, and lift!!  J'Adore!  My new favorite.

The eyeshadows used were from the Urban Decay Vice 2 palette:  Strike, Stash, Dope, and Radar.

The clashy lipstick I wore above was Givenchy Le Rouge in Rose Taffetas!  My foundation was UD Naked Skin in 0.5.

This is another Vice 2 look.  I so much loved this in person.  I'm not sure it translates all that well in photos.  I used Toxic, Damaged, Dope, and Derailed.

I believe that the lipstick above was Shiseido Lacquer Rouge 309.  Two or three of my Lacquer Rouges do look quite similar...so.... *crickets chirping*  The blush was a mix of Hello Kitty Head of the Class palette (the one with the peachy blush!) and a touch of Tarte AC Tipsy.

Another Vice 2 look!  Love!  I used Coax, Madness, and Dope.  Also used, UD eyeliner pencil in Chaos.

I'm wearing Bite Cuvée Coral lipstick, which holy smokes do I ever love this shade and formula so, so, so, so much.  It's crazy pretty.  I can't even believe it.  In person it got just slightly more orange coral throughout the day, but just wonderfully balanced and bright.  It's a stunner and I do highly recommend that you grab it if you can.  It's limited edition, but of course.  Dior Rosy Glow blush, again!  I think my highlight is Tokidoki Luminosa.  

This is a simple smoky look using the Kevyn Aucoin eyeshadow duo in #204 and Urban Decay's eyeliner pencil in Roach.

I'm wearing MUFE Face & Body 38, Tarte's Amazonian Clay blush in Natural Beauty, Kevyn Aucoin Candlelight, and Givenchy Le Rouge Beige Plume lipstick.

Aaand yet another Vice 2 look!  I used mainly Shellshock and Prank, but also some Lovesick, Dope, and Betrayal.

On my face:  Dr. Jart + Renewalist BB Cream (looks dark here, but I find it to be better in person), Illamasqua Katie, Laura Mercier Baked Highlight 01, and Givenchy Le Rouge Croiserie Fuchsia (LE from summer).

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I appreciate you.