Playing with MUA Shadows

I've had a really boring weekend as I've been sick with a cold and aside from sneezing my way through a box of tissues, drinking tea and sucking on cough drops I've done nothing exciting, I haven't even left the house. However, whenever I am bored and stuck at home, I always feel the urge to do crazy makeup looks and I had some uber crazy dark shadows from my swap with Kelly so I decided to try them out.

The MUA or Make Up Academy range in the UK retails for £1 which comes out to about $1.60 USD if my latest calculations are correct. That's very cheap and I had heard that the eyeshadow pearl range was fantastic so I was super excited to receive them from Kelly.

Seriously... look at these

They are the same two swatches but the light picks up the colors slightly different, #14 on the left and #13 on the right. So beautiful!

I used #14 all over the lid and into the crease (and the blended to soften) and #13 to line the lower lid. These are gorgeous shades that blend well and are super pigmented even on the eyes. I only used UDPP as a base, nothing else. Well, aside from the mascara of course!

Hope everyone is having a great Sunday. I'm off to make myself another pot of tea and maybe some more sorbet!

My disheveled state! I only did one eye.

Taupe Eye Look

I stupidly left the house today as we were nearly out of bread. Once again, I didn't learn that the week before Christmas everyone is out and stores are a disaster.

I used the taupe x-ed color from the Natural Eye palette, NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Iced Mocha as a base and some black mascara (recently opened up Revlon's Beyond Natural mascara and I quite like it!). Oh and I stuck a tiny bit of Clinique's kohl pencil in blackened taupe in the waterline but this was super easy. The rest of the face was nothing special, ELF TM and a little MAC Speed Dial pressed into the lips and Studio Fix powder to set.

How's everyone's Sunday? I just confirmed that I have jury duty tomorrow which from the stories I've heard, will prove to be either extremely boring or far too interesting and potentially disturbing. Fantastic.

Face Of The Saturday

A family friend came and visited us today and as such we went out to dinner, so I thought it would be a good idea to look presentable (and the lack of family ensured I could use the Illamasqua pigment and not get weird looks).

Face:
ELF TM in Ivory

Eyes:
UDPP
Illamasqua Conquer all over the lid and blended into the crease with
Wet N Wild Iris I Was Rich
Clinique Black Diamond Creamshaper at lashline and a tiny bit on the waterline
and then I reapplied the Illamasqua right over the Black Diamond for added oomph!
Maybelline Lash Stiletto Voluptuous Waterproof

Lip:
clear balm

Another MySpace (esque) look to show the full face.

I do really like the pop of green at the lashline but I'm not sure I'd be able to pull it off for work.

Birthday Dinner Look

I went out with my family last night to celebrate various birthdays. Mine is tomorrow, my Dad's was today and my brother's girlfriend celebrates hers this coming week. We went out to dinner as per tradition and I thought I'd share my eye look, though it isn't really out of the ordinary for me though I did use an Illamasqua pure pigment.

I was obviously still feeling the effects of the sangria since that was the only picture I took (and notice the wonky eyeball - thank you alcohol!). Peculiar. Anyway, I did my regular look but patted a bit of Incite right at the lash line for a little extra bronzey glow. I guess that shade is wearable after all! This was taken approximately 6 hours after application.

Sorry I'm so boring guys! I'm not sure how much color I can get away with especially around family!

My Recent Go-To Eye Look

I tend to be one of those people who gets into routines with my makeup. I'll end up keeping out the same eyeshadow(s) and wearing it over and over again. Granted, it seems I'm never quite able to finish it, but I'll wear it tons before moving it to a drawer and loving the next best thing. I wanted to share my recent go-to eye combo. Now that the weather isn't so warm, my allergies aren't so severe and I don't feel the constant need to rub my eyes. I'll stop rambling and get on to it.

First I'll apply Urban Decay Primer Potion all over the lid and up to the brow. Then I'll take the NYX Jumbo Pencil in Iced Mocha and draw a little bit of it all over the lid and a tiny bit in the crease and blend with my finger. I'll then take a big fluffy brush and brush the taupe side of the Wet N Wild Craze duo in Irish I Was Rich reviewed here and sweep that all over the lid and up and slightly over the crease. I then go back in with the NYX Jumbo Pencil and layer that right at the upper and lower lashline as liner, curl my lashes and then apply a liberal amount of the Lash Stiletto Voluptuous on my upper and lower lashes reviewed here (or another mascara of the moment) and I'm done. It's a very quick easy look that doesn't require a separate crease, outer V or highlight shade and makes it perfect for the work week, although I wore it today to buy groceries.

In case you don't want to click to see my review of the duo, here's a better close up shot. It is gorgeous! You can kinda see I've made a decent gouge in the product already. This is a beautiful silvery taupe shade, very pigmented and leans more silvery. I've basically ignored the purple.

I threw a little MAC Cyndi on for the photo op. Skin is just some tinted moisturizer and concealer although I cleverly showed you my "good" side. The other side of my chin has a large raised pimple that doesn't seem to want to disappear!

Super easy look but still looks like you put some effort in. My husband said it made my eyes pop. Nerd.

How Waterproof Is Waterproof?

Yesterday, I had some fun on my Wii Fit Plus and boy am I feeling it today. Anyway, I didn't have the chance to remove my makeup before exercising. I was of course wearing my Maybelline Lash Stiletto Voluptuous Waterproof reviewed here, and some Motives eyeshadows, reviewed here.

Oh, well, I suppose I'll share the eye makeup as it was around the time I applied it:

And one for fun, since I'm a big goof.

Then I work out and guess what's still on my lashes? You guessed it. Lash Stiletto Voluptuous Waterproof. I'm not sure you can see the amount of sweat on my face, but believe me, it's there. I was sweating hard!

Please ignore my mug (and my eyebrows, dear lord) but do you see the sweat? Now do you see that there is nothing black below my eyes? Mascara win!

And to answer my question, very waterproof!

EOTD* & A Review Follow Up

* I am boring and neutral and they all look the same, I know

Obviously, I shouldn't blog whilst (hi UK girls, I blame you for this!) infected, because I really need to read more closely. The Gabrielle Faust line that I received were the sample size eyeshadows (5 grams), the full size jars are 10 grams. Hello much better deal, though I still wouldn't spring for the full size jars if I were you.

Anyway, I decided to do an actual eye look today even though my eyes are itchy and watery and I keep on rubbing them. I'll say that the eyeshadows held up pretty well (I did use UDPP as a base). I applied this at 5:30am and it is now 3:45pm and I just took the photos a few moments ago. Yes, I went very basic because I've been rubbing my eyes a lot and I don't want to look like I was punched if I spread the purpley shadows all over my eye area!

Anyway, I used Hourglass Sand as an all over lid shade (love!) and a little Aftermath in the crease.

Do you see how red my eyes are? Bleh.

So, in respect to the "do you need these" type question in my previous post; no you don't need the full size shades, but at least pick up the samples! Especially if you like neutrals. Though I still stand behind the "if only these were pressed" because I'm really accident prone and can't see well at all without my specs!

Weekend EOTD

Yes, I wore this out this weekend. I actually left the house on the weekend (again!) first to mail a package and then I picked up a few things from Target (nothing exciting, just some groceries). I though I would share my "eye of the day" - review coming soon on Beauty Debutante of this particular range.

Oh you want to know what these pretty pigmented colors are, dontcha? Well, you'll just have to be patient and wait till the post goes live on Beauty Debutante (I'll be sure to link it as always). I can't claim to be nearly as mean as Pink Sith with her "Taupes You Can't Have" series, well at least I'll let you know what the mascara and eyeliner were.

Base Urban Decay Primer Potion

Mascara Cargo

Milani Liquif-Eye metallic eye liner pencil in brown 

and "mystery" eyeshadows

This was quick and kind of messy but I wanted to do something dramatic since my life has been boring and I never go anywhere besides the office.

Review: Spell Cosmetics

I just want to say that this review is long overdue. I received my Spell Cosmetics haul in early April and didn't really start testing them out till recently. Oops! Anyway, I'm going to share my thoughts and some pretty pictures especially since Spell is having an awesome sale through tomorrow only!

Anyway, as you can see in said haul entry, I experienced excellent customer service from Spell which I guess is probably why I was hesitant to try the products, what if they sucked? That would truly be a disappointment (though the review would have gone up anyway).

To test out on the eye, I did an EOTD with Antiquity (left) and a tiny but of Treasure (right) in the crease.

The first thing I noticed is that these felt less dry than a lot of the mineral shadows I've tried (a note that the line that I picked up is advertised to be more moist than other shadows - The Jewel Thief Collection). A lot of the time, if you have a shadow that is a base of color with glitter or sparkles, the moment you start trying to apply it to the eye, you lose the sheen and they go rather flat and some of them are harder to blend than others. For some people this is a good thing, especially more mature lids that can't really handle mega frost on the lid, but for those of us that actually like the shimmer colors, it's a bit disappointing. I am happy to say that although I did get some fall out with these shades, the glimmer stayed on the lids quite well and the shades didn't go flat when I started blending them.

The one thing I wasn't thrilled about is the fact these don't have a sifter. Since I'm near blind without my glasses, I literally had to bend down to my sink to pick up shadow with my brush, swirl in the lid and then apply so as not to create a huge mess. I also found that these tend to ball up in the jar which isn't a problem but it means there isn't a lot of the product that clings to the lid, so you do actually have to "dip" your brush in the product which for me is a recipe for disaster if I'm not careful.

Before I share my EOTD with the 2 shades I used, a disclaimer. My camera washes out colors a bit that I put on my face/eyes.

I used:
Lumene eyebase
Spell Antiquity all over lid
Spell Treasure in outer V (very little)
Milani Metallic Liquif-y Eye Metallic eyeliner in black to line
Bourjois mascara (I forget which one) in brown

This was applied at 12pm today and I went out in the hot sun and it stood up pretty well (though my lashes uncurled themselves). It's now 5:30pm. Spell eyeshadows are usually $9 each which is a bit high for a small line but so far I'm impressed and you can get them for a mere $3 a pop during the buy 5 get 5 free sale.

Would I buy again? Yes, and I'll be participating in the deal that ends tomorrow.

Eye Of The Day (EOTD)

I almost never post EOTD posts only because I am horrible at taking pictures of myself and I usually lose any detail by winking or moving just so so that the photo never turns out right. So, even though this picture is probably crap, I am sharing it because it is by far my favorite eye look and it is as simple as can be.

By the way, I'm not sure if you can tell, but I'm wearing Fyrinnae's lip lustre in Bloodstains on my cheeks! I posted about this on twitter but in case you don't follow me, I'm going to share it again. Either way, I wasn't thrilled with the way Bloodstains looked on my lips (it went quite brown), but on my cheeks it's just a lovely healthy reddish flush! Here's the post where you can see the swatch. Now if you're going to do this, be sure to only use a little dab and blend it quickly!

Anyway, I used:
Lumene eye primer
Stila Wheat (my absolute favorite eyeshadow and my favorite Stila)
Urban Decay 24/7 liner in Rockstar (dark purple)
Bourjois waterproof mascara in brown
Sue Devitt Starlights Clear Water Eyeshadow in Leo (just a dab patted with my finger on the center of the lid over the Wheat for extra shine)

Many swatches of these products can be found in my 5 Minute Face/Eyes post. Can you tell I tend to use the same things over and over again? Now you do.

This was one of my quick and dirty, I need to actually wear makeup when I go to Sephora, looks (and it was applied about 5 hours ago so you can see how it wears). The eyeliner isn't completely even but I didn't care. Ooh, speaking of which, I finally got the Benefit Legally Bronze set which I'll feature shortly.

(Also please be nice and ignore my hideous eyebrows. I've been meaning to go get them waxed but I'm scared to try a new waxing place since we moved!)