Super Soft Smokey Eye Using Naked 2

Hey guys! So this is just a super quick post to give you a run down of one of my favorite eye looks I've been doing lately. It's super quick and simple and I've been loving how these colors make my eyes seem to pop. 

I've been using my Mac paint pot in Painterly as a base. I then take my Naked 2 palette and apply Foxy on my brow bone and inner third of my eyelid as well. Next I take Tease (my favorite shade from this palette), and apply it all over the lid and just to the crease. I take a fluffy blending brush with more Foxy on it and blend it into the crease so both colors transition nicely into one another. To deepen up the outer portion of the lid and into the crease I apply Busted.

To finish off the look I apply a mixture of Busted and Tease to the bottom lash line. I then apply my favorite liquid liner - Loreal Carbon Black Lineur Intense, and Loreal Miss Manga mascara - full review of this mascara here. I always highlight my inner corner very last, and for that I take Bootycall on a small precision brush and apply it to my inner corner as well as a very light touch under the brow.

Impromptu Heart to Heart Via My Youtube Channel

It has literally been two years (more than that) since I've made a video and published it to Youtube. I stopped for a variety of reasons, which I explain in the video. Today I just had a real urge to post something on a different forum than just on my blog, and so this was the result..

I'm not sure if I'm going to make this a thing - making videos of any sort again - but I just felt like doing this spur of the moment hello and update for the few people who always showed me their love and support via my tiny little Youtube channel. 

Life has thrown some pretty crazy stuff at me in the past three years, and although its been hard to push through some of it, I've done so with (I feel) great success. One thing I always have had an urge to continue doing though, is blogging/vlogging. They have been two outlets for me to express myself through the years and for that I am grateful! 

Valentines Lips | Three Ways

Whether you're going on a date with that special someone, choosing to stay and have a good pamper session, or doing a night out with friends, Valentines is a day for love. It's always nice to look nice, regardless of what you're doing on the 14th, so I've rounded up three combos - lip-spiration as it were -  that work perfectly with a variety of different makeup looks for whatever kind of V-day you're choosing to have.

Nude

For the nude lip I chose my favorite lip liner in Natural by Rimmel, and filled in my entire lips. Then I applied Revlon Soft Nude and topped it off with the Maybelline Color Elixir gloss in Nude Illusion.

Pink

I had a bit of a harder time deciding on a pink lip, but narrowed it down the Elf lip liner in ... , which I lined and filled in my lips with. Next I took one of my all time favorite pink lipsticks - Mac Creme Cup. I chose not to go with a gloss and keep it more on the creamy/natural looking end of things and I'm happy with the decision.

Red

Finally, and most boldly of all - I had to do a red of course (Valentines and red go hand in hand) - so I grabbed my only go to red of the past couple months. The NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream in Monte Carlo is simply stunning.



I hope this little post gave you some inspiration! Let me know what your plans for Valentines are in the comments! 

My Go-To Triple Threat Concealer

Concealer is something that seems to be a staple for me - even on non foundation days when I'm hanging around the house I tend to at least dot a little under my eyes to cover all signs of my night owl ways. It's also one of those products that I am constantly looking for "the next best thing" in. I feel that I may have finally found one of my holy grails though with Benefit Erase Paste - I was mainly alerted to this because over the past six months or so I've been continually reaching for this one, and I can't seem to replace it in my every day makeup bag. 

I have mine in the lightest of the three shades offered (truly the only negative aspect to this product is the lack of shade selection). Other than that somewhat sad detail, I consider this concealer my ultimate triple threat. What are the requirements for this you may ask? 

1. Covers dark circles - The tone of this is absolutely perfect for disguising my dark circles. I apply it in thin even layers using my Real Techniques pointed foundation brush as well as my ring finger to blend. It doesn't crease and lasts all day.

2. Covers blemishes - I'm human, I get blemishes, and I also like to conceal them if I'm feeling a little worse for wear because of them. This stuff does an amazing job of doing the hiding without looking cakey, and without drying out the area. 

3. Covers redness - I have always had a problem with redness on certain areas of my face - chin, around my nose and slightly on to my cheeks as well. This concealer does a wonderful job disguising the redness with only the slightest bit of product - again, amazing for days when you don't want to wear a full coverage foundation. 

How To | Wear Pink Makeup the Non-Girly Way

I am certainly not the type of person that would consider herself to be a 'girly girl'. I know that logic seems a bit off considering I write a beauty blog about makeup and fashion, but really in terms of my life as a whole I cannot define myself as such. Although you would have an extremely hard time finding anything pink throughout my wardrobe aside from small details on an item I am not in the least opposed to wearing pink hues in my makeup looks. Pink is an especially lovely shade for this time of year because it can bring life and brightness to an otherwise dull complexion. I find wearing pink, wether it be on my lips, cheeks or eyes, can really make me look and feel much more fresh, and give my spirits a little boost as well.

Starting off with lips, probably the easiest way to pull off pink because of the wide variety of textures and intensities available. If you want to start at the more sheer end of things I really love the Rimmel Vinyl gloss in Keep a Secret, a light pink with shimmer. My choice pink lipstick is Mac Creme cup, which is excellent if you're looking for something pigmented, but by no means bright pink. If you've fallen for the balm/stain kind of products than something like the Revlon Balm Stain in Sweetheart Valentine, or the Rimmel Color Rush in Give Me a Cuddle would be excellent options - they are easy to apply and once the initial color has worn off, your lips are left with a lovely stained effect.

creme cup, give me a cuddle, sweetheart valentine, keep a secret

Cheeks are another way to add pink into your daily makeup routine, and there is a pink out there for everyone! Three of my favorites are all sporting the same 'rosey' type of undertone, which in my opinion is the easiest form of pink to wear for pretty well any skin tone out there - rose undertones in pinks make your cheeks look most natural, while still adding a glow. A new addition to my collection is Rimmels powder blush in Pink Rose which has a very slight shimmer to it. Mac mineralize blushes have always been a long time lover of mine because they are so easy to work with, and this one in Subtle Breeze is no exception. My favorite cream form product goes out to the Maybelline bouncy blush in Pink Plum, which is so soft, blendable and buildable.

pink rose, subtle breeze, pink plum

Last, and probably the most difficult to pull off is eyes. I find with shades in the pink-red family it always works out best when you pair these shades with a good liner and lots of mascara. The easiest 'pink' shade in my collection to wear is certainly Mac All that Glitters, although it is much more on the champagne end of the spectrum. Two of my other favorites I wear in a very similar way - Elf mineral eyeshadow in Sweet and Urban Decay Grifter are both ones I love to rock on the bottom lash line with various looks on the lid. They're both lighter and add a beautiful glow to the eye. The most 'stop you in your tracks' of my picks has got to be Urban Decay Last Call - it's like the bolder sister to Mac Cranberry. I wear this best when it involves being smoked out with a matte black shadow, lots of eyeliner and mascara.

all that glitters, sweet, last call, grifter

Brand Boast | Maybelline New York

Hey guys! So I'm back with a second installment of my series called 'Brand Boast', and this one is going to be focusing on Maybelline New York. 

Maybelline began with a Chicago chemist named Thomas Williams who was trying to help his sister Maybel enhance her beauty in an attempt to win over the man she was in love with. She would use petroleum jelly to enhance her brows and lashes, but Thomas took it one step further by adding carbon dust into the petroleum jelly to further enhance her features. The creation was a success, and in 1915 Thomas Williams founded the company that is now a global giant.

Now that I've given you a run down of what the brand is about, let me break down why I absolutely love this company and its products so much!

Eyes
I'm starting off with eye makeup because well.. that's apparently where this company started, and that's where they are still rocking it 100 years later. Maybelline totally knows how to do eyeshadows well, and I feel like they just keep getting better and better. I think their best launch in recent years has to be the color tattoo cream eyeshadows however, they are amazing!
They also really know how to make a mascara - really - I can't even tell you how many I've bought since my mom first allowed me to buy makeup, but  I do know my first kind was the 'Great Lash' mascara, which I still buy to this day. Maybelline is the one brand that sends me into excitement mode with each and every new mascara - new formula, gotta try it!

Lips
I find I never used to gravitate towards Maybelline lip products, but in the past couple years I feel like I've been seeing more and more amazing things come from them. They've always have good lipsticks, but I feel like they took it to the next level with their releases of the vivid line, nude line and now they have a matte line. All amazing quality lipsticks for the price of about 6-8$ CAD. As far as lip gloss goes I was never completely over the moon about anything until the Color Elixir glosses were released, now they are my absolute favorite drugstore lip gloss - they seriously rock!

Face
With a wide range of products that do everything from prime, to cover lightly using a BBcream, to a full coverage foundation I feel like they offer something for everyone. Their powders are also some of my favorites from the drugstore - so finely milled and provide the perfect finish without looking over done. They also offer a variety of cream and powder blushes and bronzers to complete your look. The bouncy blushes have long been one of my favorite cream blushes from the drugstore, and who doesn't love a good cream blush product!



I hope you enjoyed this run down of Maybelline New York and my thoughts on some of my favorites from the brand. If you would like to see more of these 'brand boast' posts comment below and request my next brand to feature!