5 Minute Face: Eyeshadow/Eyes

Next in the 5 Minute Face series, eyes. Since I put a lot of effort making sure my face looks halfway decent, I don't really apply a lot of makeup on my eyes in the morning. I also deal with allergies and since my office's air system is apparently filled to the brim with dust, my "seasonal allergies" are now weekly (Monday-Friday 7am-5:30pm) allergies. For this reason, it's almost silly to put a lot of effort into my eyes simply because by the end of the day, most of it will be teared or smudged away.

That being said, I tend to do a "my lids but better". Colors that are similar to my natural eyelid color or a few shades darker or lighter. Depending on my mood, I switch between matte and shimmer shades, sometimes I only wear a tinted base, sometimes I wear eyeliner, sometimes I don't. If I know my eyes may be particularly sensitive (Mondays are the worst!) I forgo colored mascara in lieu of clear.

I always start with a base.

 

* Lumene Beauty Base 

* Benefit Creaseless Cream in Recess

* Sue Devitt Starlights Clear Water Eyeshadow in Leo d/c

* Prescriptives Moonbeam Reflective Eye color in Satellite Wine d/c

I tend to wear the Sue Devitt and the Prescriptives alone when I'm really in a rush. The Lumene and the Benefit generally act as bases for powder eyeshadow.

 

Various neutral eyeshadows. Some of my favorites are Tarte Glow, Stila Wheat, Stila Kitten, Garden Botanika Blossom, MAC Vanilla, L'Oreal Bare Natural Bare Nude and Bare Escentuals Pink Sands.

Most of the time I don't bother putting on eyeliner but when I'm in the mood, I tend to choose jewel tones or blackened colors. Because of the allergies, I only wear waterproof or long wearing formulas. I only use kohls on my waterline and almost never during the work week.

 

* Lancome Le Stylo wp in Amethyst 

* Urban Decay 24/7 in Rockstar

* Clinique Cream Shaper in Black Diamond

* MAC Power Point in Engraved

* MAC Power Point in Forever Green

And I always use my trusty ELF undereye concealer in fair (swatched above) and my Shu eyelash curler since my lashes are stick straight. I don't wear a lot of mascara but currently I'm trying to use up a Dior Show mini.

 

Most days, my eyes take me about a minute.

CCO Haul

I'd been meaning to go to my local CCO - aka Cosmetic Company Outlet for awhile. I heard reports that Prescriptives was further marked down and I wanted to stock up on the old size of MAC pigments. Of course said CCO is 50 miles away and in an outdoor outlet mall. So the thought of walking around in the recent snow episodes was not something I wanted to experience. Today was a blustery 20 degrees (and that was the high), but even with the temperature, I braved the winds and walked away with some goodies.

I picked up 4 MAC pigments. These are some colors I don't already have in my stash. We have... Vintage Gold (LE Overrich August 2008), Gilded Green (LE Colorforms July 2008), Tea Time (LE Colorforms July 2008) & Cocomotion (LE Rushmetal July 2007) . They had a few other colors but I restrained myself (though I'm planning another trip next week after their next shipment). 

I also picked up a Prescriptives set. This set was from Holiday 2008 and called All Year Bronze. All the Prescriptives items that they had in stock were an additional 20% off (this is on top of the 30% discount at the CCO). This was only $22.40 after discount which is a great deal since it's mostly full sized items.

Set includes:
-Full-size Sunsheen Bronzing Trio in Medium (0.35 oz.)
-Full-size Tint Balm in Caramel (0.5 oz.)
-Full-size Colorscope Creamy Eye Color in Rose Dust (0.25 oz.)
-Travel-size Powder Brush.

My Foundation Shades

Aside from jokes about my likeliness to white sheets, I haven't done a proper post regarding my foundation shades. My biggest issues when looking for foundations is finding something pale and pink enough and also finding something that doesn't break me out or irritate my skin. I'm not including all of the foundation that I own because I am so keen on finishing one or two of these bottles before cracking open another.

These are the 3 liquid foundations that I currently have in rotation:

• Make Up For Ever Mat Velvet + #15 $34/1oz
  
• Prescriptives Custom Mixed Foundation $65 (this is both lighter and less yellow than their lightest pre-mixed shade) - this is the mini that I usually decant from the big bottle to keep it out of humidity/sunlight
• Exuviance Skin Caring Foundation SPF 15 in Ivory $32/1oz

There is actually a pretty funny story with the Exuviance. When I started working at ULTA I told my boss that I couldn't find a foundation in the store that matched me. So we basically went on a wild goose chase around the 'prestige' area trying to find one. Most were either too dark or too yellow. Finally, we found the Exuviance area that is hidden in the skincare section. He had never heard of the brand before himself but it was the only color in the store that matched me (that's not completely true, I can also wear Bare Escentuals Fair and Studio Gear Tinted Moisturizer in Fair).

l-r: MUFE, Px, Exuviance

My favorite is definitely the custom mixed Prescriptives one (I am so sad the line is shutting down). During the winter, this is definitely preferred since there is extra moisturizer in the formula and of course it is a perfect match. The MUFE and the Exuviance are both significantly more matte and I need to moisturize a great deal before application or else they are dry and cakey looking. They are definitely better Summer foundations since they do not budge either once set. Just a note: the Exuviance looks a lot pinker swatched then it does on my skin. I don't know if it self adjusts or what, because it's very similar to the other two shades once sheered out.

I'd like to thank Pink Sith for turning me on to the MUFE. She actually RAOK-ed me my first bottle!

My Favorite Lesser Knowns - part I

Visiting beauty blogs and boards, there are plenty of items that get a whole lot of love. Early on in my foray into the great cosmetics of the internet circa 2005, there was a lot of love for Smith's Rosebud Salve (maybe there still is but I don't hear about it nearly as much). I tried the stuff and just couldn't get into the potted balm and I wasn't a fan of rose so I got the strawberry kind. Still reminded me of lightly tinted over-priced petroleum jelly. I still have that little tin somewhere... hm...

But there are some great things out there that are infrequently mentioned, and that is what today's post is about!

Prescriptives Moonbeam Reflective Eye Color $16 - I'm sure many of you have heard about the unfortunate end to Prescriptives. They will stop selling the line at counters globally January 31st 2010. I'm quite crushed over the fact that I will no longer be able to purchase the custom foundation that I have come to love. It's really the only thing that matches my super pale, super pinky skin. But I'm going to talk about the eye color. Moonbeam Reflective Eye Color is awesome. Although you would never expect it to be, the color that I love the most is called Satellite Wine. You would think it's a cranberry or burgundy color, right? Wrong! It's a beautiful taupey plum. Sheer it's the perfect base for taupe eyeshadow and layered a bit it is a great neutral eye for those of us on the go. I'm about halfway done with my tube (insane for the amount of makeup I have) and it's already gone from the website (curses!). I will miss it when it's gone. Wish it and the line got more love.

Studio Gear eyeshadow $14 - Studio Gear is one of those lines that not everyone knows about and they seldom get introduced either in store or online. This line is only carried at ULTA and I got introduced to it when they were giving out gratis in the store that I worked at several years ago. I was allowed to pick $50 in product so I selected the eyeshadow in Crystal Taupe (above), one of their lipsticks (a color Bliss which has a texture similar to MAC's lustres) and their pressed powder. Very underrated brand. The eyeshadows are ridiculously silky and pigmented and the lipsticks are moisturizing, have no offensive smell or taste and come in tubes that lock in place (the thing I may hate most is when lipsticks open in the makeup bag in my purse smearing their color all over everything else).

So those are my first two. What are your favorite lesser known products?