Savvy Thinker » Milani

FOTD MK Minerals +

Karin — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 14:24:44 +0000

It's been a while since I've posted a current FOTD. I wanted to try out the new color of MK mineral foundation, .5. I find the 1.0 is a little dark and a little yellow on me. The .5 is just perfect.

Eyes:
Base: Nude Frost, then Revlon Lilac Shimmer Perle (it is glittery)
Lids: Prescriptives Hyacinth
Crease and outer corners: Sephora # 9 and Milani Royalty # 06
Dry lined top and bottom: Some combination of darker shadows
Gel Lined Sheer Cover: plum shade and some SC black

Foundation: MK Mineral .5 ($18); then my sparkly mix powder, not only because I like my sparkly mix (which I do) but also to make it have more illumination. I didn't want to look like I had foundation on or that I was dry.
Blush: MK Pomegranate Cheek Jelly (new product) ($16) (comes in two colors)
My Review: Foundation was very easy to apply and extremely fast. It is still a drier look than I am used to. It's been on for several hours now, and it doesn't feel dry. The longer it is on, the more it seems to blend more natural. I think the coverage is lighter too, though it might be that I was very frugal in use of it, not wanting it to be too heavy or cakey. Love the Pomegranate shade.

Lips: MK lip balm ($7.50); MK Rose, then later MK Passionfruit ($13 each)
I like the colors. They are emollient without being sticky. My lips feel good and look good -- that is equally important.

Have you tried any of the new colors or products?
More reviews will follow tomorrow.

Have a great day!

Karin
www.savvythinker.com

Originally posted 2010-04-08 13:09:57.

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Creating a black lippie

Karin — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 06:22:21 +0000

Wow! this was fun! Thanks to Elena for giving me the idea yesterday.

Do you want a little drama and edge in your life?
Try a little black lippie, especially since they are moving out of Goth and into mainstream, albeit high fashion.
Yves St. Laurent has a black gloss.
Chanel has black lippies in different color hues, not like their famous Vamp lippie, a burgundy-black. These would be black-whatever-color-tone-you-pick of the three.
NYX has a black gloss.
Fyrinnae has Monochrome, a matte black lip lustre.

Is it still Goth, if mainstream isn't far behind?

Could I make my own? Yes!
I figured I could come up with my own, yes!

I also wanted to try it with one of Aromaleigh's wonderful black shadows. But there was no time. Maybe tomorrow.

Step 1:
Base: Avon Beyond Color Lip Plumping Conditioner
This would allow the pencil to go on without pulling. And also, hopefully, not stain my lips.
Choosing a black eye pencil.
I used Revlon Wet Dry Blackest Black
I wondered about my really black Shiseido and my not-quite-as-black Shiseido, but for this, I chose Revlon.

What a gorgeous shimmery black! But I didn't have my eyes on yet, and it was morning, and I knew I wanted to tame it down.

For real drama
This would be a beautiful shade colored on both lips, with a touch of gloss up the center.

The bottom lippie is Milani Lip Mixer Gloss 704. I wanted to bring it into a burgundy look. Next time I might try lipstick instead of gloss.

My youngest 2 girls were looking at me wondering what the heck!

Step 2:
Smoosh the lips together.
It was really quite black, and the pencil shimmered through it.

My girls thought it was way too dark for me. But I wasn't finished with the rest of my makeup. If you could see the full shots here, you would certainly agree with them. But I'm not sharing them!

Step 3: Add gloss up the middle of the lip to highlight
Lancome Starlight White with silver glitter
Milani Glitzy Glow Girl to pink it up some

Finished FOTD I'll post more FOTD shortly.
Looking good.

Karin

Originally posted 2009-03-22 13:30:53.

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FOTD AL Spring Solstice Eyes

Karin — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 07:57:17 +0000

I received AL's Spring Solstice colors a couple of days ago. They are really beautiful shades, and even better, they are 25% off until March 18, 2009. I love that it is affordable to try the colors as samples before ordering full sizes.

Because I was wearing gray today, I wanted to go bright and cheery, like the feathers of a bird. That is generally the look I go for, anyway, instead of a lot of extra blending. I try to blend as I go, but with bright definitions. I wanted my eyes to flash color when I blinked, the way a birds feathers would show in flight.

After all, it is spring! The birds have been singing here like crazy lately, even in the middle of the night.

I love all the AL reds that they have for eyes.
Before AL, I had never worn any red shadows, and in fact, had never even seen any. Yes, pinks and mauves and lilacs and purples and burgundies, but never red.

This shows you how I laid out the colors, but in RL the edges are not sharply defined as it shows with the flash.

All Aromaleigh Spring Solstice, applied dry:
Crease: Lupine, a soft grayed blue
Outer Corners: Nasturtium, brilliant beautiful red
Drylined upper and below my usual MAC in lower waterline: Forget-me-not, bright teal
Lined outer top: E.L.F. waterproof pen in navy
Mascara: Jillian Dempsey for Avon, dual
Brows: Clinique pencil

Cheeks: AL femmefatale rocks sonic rouge
This is a beautiful peachy pink, that I thought would go well with the lippie.
Lip gloss: Milani Glitzy Puttin on the Ritz 07
This takes on all different hues depending on the light. You can see it illustrated at my review post. Gorgeous color; almost like the 70s, but updated to be new and fresh.

Today I'm comparing two serums. Everything else is the same.

One fun thing is E.L.F. Shimmering Facial Whip in a pink tone that I used to highlight up the center of my face before my usual glimmer powder mix. I bought this on a whim. Plus the price. Every E.L.F. item I bought was only $1, except for two which were $3 each. I figured I couldn't go wrong.

I'll talk more about E.L.F. in another post after I try more of the products.

Karin

Originally posted 2009-03-15 13:59:10.

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FOTD Meow Eyes, AL blush, Milani lip gloss

Karin — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 15:13:44 +0000

Trying out Meow eyes again today, but different colors.

Used my new fiber optic AL brush again. Love this brush. Get one! I will do a review in the next few days. I used it for everything except the outer corners. It makes application a snap!

In the order of application:
Base: Avon light purple cream; my golden beige sparkle
Crease: IdealEyes Anti-Social Purrl
Outer corners: VandalEyes Pole Dancing
Inner corners: ScandalEyes Nicole S (I used this yesterday too).
Mascara top: compared two Guerlains; the one is the dual ended one.

This is a pretty container:

Lined bottom MAC: graphblack in waterline; earthline below it.
Mascara lower: the tiny brush for lower lashes from the dual ended.
Drylined: ScandalEyes Feral
Brows: Clinique pencil

Cheeks:
AL Breathless rocks sonic rouge (great color)
Using a fiber optic brush -- I took about 3 grains; 2 would have been enough.

Later I updated my lips with Cover Girl Incredifull lipstick (see my review tomorrow.)

Primer(s)
Today I used Guerlain Meteorites Perles Light Diffusing Perfecting Primer

over a bit of Smashbox primer, under Chanel foundation. The Guerlain is wonderful for correcting a foundation that needs a little help. The Chanel alone is a bit yellow. I wish I could still get the foundation that they discontinued. That color was perfect!

And, of course, my mix of glimmer powder over the foundation. You can find the recipe under Savvy Thinker quick find or here.

Karin

Originally posted 2009-03-14 16:16:16.

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FOTD Aromaleigh + MAC lips + Glitter tipped lashes

Karin — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 14:22:04 +0000

These are pretty colors! I think if you look at all the pictures you can see how pretty the glitter is on the lashes.

Eyes
Over my usual base product:
Inner lids: AL glowing luna les papillons
Outer lids and dry lined lower: AL vigil of change les papillons

Glowing Luna: A pigmented warm green yellow... or yellowish warm green? You choose. Sparks of copper and pink add an ethereal dimension.
Vigil of Change: Intense deep cool purple with smokey metallic undertones and golden highlights with pink sparkles.

Review
Lined lower: 01 Milani crystal eye limited edition -- this is sparkly with gold flecks on your lid without much color even if it looks as if there were, but on my lid without any other product the glitter felt scratchy -- I like it better as liner, used more thickly so the color shows. The glitter in the package looks sparked with blue and green. I expected silver sparks from looking at it in the store. I'm not unhappy I bought it, but I think the ads are photoshopped to show more spark. I will use it for liner. I used it over the top of shadow yesterday (another way they recommend it) and it deepened the shadow a bit, but didn't give much spark.

Edited: I returned the one I bought. It looked purple in the container but had basically no color, and while it says it is buildable, it would have to be too thick to show. Plus the glitter is sharp, at least on my eye. After it had been on a while I didn't feel it, but at first I did. I much prefer the rocks! collection from Aromaleigh. The second time I used it to line with, the line was too thick.

Lashes: Top lashes from Witches Charm Enchantress set (black with silver glitter tips) -- These are so pretty and elegant! This is the first time I've worn them. The bottom lashes are similar to the ones with the red tinsel lashes. I trimmed almost 3/8" from the width at the outer end of the lashes.

Blush and highlighter: Arbonne

Lips:
MAC Flashmode + Money Honey, one on each lip, smooshed

I hope you are having a great day! (All products were purchased by me; they were not given to me to review.)

Karin
www.savvythinker.com

Originally posted 2009-12-03 12:01:46.

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Review: Milani Glitzy Glamour Gloss

Karin — Sat, 24 Sep 2011 06:30:07 +0000

I have tried four of the colors so far.

Glow Girl 10
This is a light-medium orchid pink.

First Class 01
A beautiful deeper pink.

Puttin on the Glitz 07 Gorgeous beigy apricot with some pink in it.
This one is really beautiful in different lights, and as I wore it over time.

In a different light

Two hours later:

Lady Like 08
This is a true copper.

These colors were as beautiful as any you'd see in a high end line for a fraction of the price.

These do not have glitter; they have a high shimmer.

I don't like the packaging, even though the wand looks rich with a very nice gold cap and top edge-- the color is surrounded by clear plastic, making the wand much bulkier than it needs to be, though it adds a glassy shine as you look at the product. I prefer less bulk for both storage or carrying along.

Again, I found mine at CVS. If you have a coupon from using your CVS tracking card or if they are on sale or if you get a CVS money coupon when you buy them, they are very, very reasonable, sometimes even free!

Have you tried these? I love the colors. I will add swatches if I get more colors.

Karin
5 for colors
2 for packaging
5 for creamy formula, not sticky, no drift
3 flavor and scent -- which goes away quickly
4 for price $6.99

Originally posted 2009-03-05 11:06:39.

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FOTD Take 2 Five Minute Pick-me-up

Karin — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 14:24:52 +0000

Take 2, five minute pick-me-up
Milani Glitzy Gloss Lady Like 08
All I did was switch the lippie.

All info can be found at my first FOTD.

Karin

Originally posted 2009-03-14 18:04:13.

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FOTD Chanel Eyes + Milani lips +

Karin — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 03:10:07 +0000

In the interests of using some of my eye shadows, let alone possibly ever using one up, I had a new idea when I was sorting through my stash.
Eyes:
Base: Nude Frost
Lids: Chanel Fauves quad, combined with Lancome Poudre Blanc Neige powder -- The Fauves set is too matte on me and not quite the right brown. I got a brainstorm to try it with this highlighting powder. That altered the color a little and did not harm my lids. Browns are still not my all time fave. But this is a fairly nice, albeit expensive because of Chanel, neutral.
Drylined Darkest brown from Fauves
TightLined: Styli Sky 904 glitter pencil
Brows: La Prairie pencil
Mascara top: Guerlain; lower: Tarte
Concealer: SCA

Primer: Guerlain Meteorites
Base: Guerlain
Rouge: Chanel stick
Powder: Guerlain Meteorites
Blush: Arbonne Promise
Highlight: Arbonne lightest blush color

Lips: Milani 10 Glow Girl + 08 Lady Like
I love both colors alone, so I figured I'd love them together. Lady Like is coppery. Glow Girl is a medium pink.

To buy Arbonne from Bookgirl, if you don't have a representative, just ask us.

I was happy with the way this turned out. I thought about adding some glitter, but the day got away from me, and I simply forgot.

What do you think?

Karin

Originally posted 2009-08-20 12:55:22.

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Review Milani Crystal gloss for lips

Karin — Sat, 22 May 2010 19:34:24 +0000

I have two Milani lip glosses, both in the same formula Crystal Gloss for lips, in the shorter wand.

One is Baby Love (orchid with pink and gold glitter) and the other is a pale pink with silver glitter.

I love them both, and the price is right. They are comparable to any other gloss I've ever used, including Clinique, Estee Lauder, Lancome, MAC, or Avon. They look similar to the new Two-Faced ones, but with not quite as much spark. I'm not sure if all the colors have the glitter in them, but these two do.

I found mine at CVS.

Karin
5 not sticky, but do not drift
5 no flavor or scent, but don't taste of ingredients
5 colors are beautiful
5 price is right; on a par with Avon pricing; CVS and Avon both run specials

MILANI CRYSTAL GLOSS FOR LIPS

4 Bids

US $1.30

11h 37m

2 Milani Lip Gloss Crystal Gloss Tubes, RENDEZ-VOUS, Lavendar Purple

0 Bid

US $7.99

15h 50m

MILANI Crystal Gloss for Lips - Seduction 06 - New & Sealed

US $4.99

15h 50m

MILANI Crystal Gloss for Lips - TANTALIZING 11A - New & Sealed

US $4.99

16h 11m

MILANI Crystal Gloss for Lips - Sweet Desire 04 - New & Sealed

US $4.99

16h 23m

MILANI Crystal Gloss for Lips - Breathless 10 - New & Sealed

US $4.99

16h 34m

MILANI Lip Gloss Lipgloss - CRYSTALS 22 - New & Sealed

US $4.99

17h 51m

Milani Crystal Gloss For Lips 03 ALLURE

US $1.55

18h 34m

Milani Crystal Gloss For Lips 08 FORBIDDEN

US $1.55

18h 57m

Milani Crystal Gloss For Lips 11A TANTALIZING

US $1.55

18h 57m

Originally posted 2009-03-05 10:51:13.

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Glitter, glitter everywhere

Karin — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 15:20:59 +0000

Do you like glitter in your beauty products?

I remember the first time I saw glitter on someone. The girl was about age 10. I thought it was a new and fun look and one that I knew I'd want to include in my repertoire. And so it began.

I think it is youthful
It is more youthful, because that is what youth is wearing, but also because mattes can be aging. Glitter and shimmer tend to camouflage.

It is not too youthful a look, when applied correctly and with some mild restraint. You will be able to figure out what works for you.

Compliments
I get compliments on the glitter that I use. I remember a young salesgirl at the store where I first found Girlactik, one of the glitters that I like. She said most older women, including her mother, would never even think to try it, but automatically dismiss it. She loved it on me. Considering her age, nearly all of us would be older than her!

Here's a few things I do:

Powder: Most powder with glitter is too in-your-face for your face, even if it is made for your face. So to make it more subtle, I blend a glitter face or body powder with non-glittered loose powder. There's no science to it. I just mix until I like the look. On me, silver glitters are better, so I put a bit more of that in, but I generally add some powder with gold glitters too. When I use it up, I make a new batch. I go lightly with it, so it lasts a long time.

It's rare for me to wear a powder without glitter to set my makeup. I might top it with some plain powder, simply because I have it. I generally do not need to touch up during the day.

Eyeshadows: I love the glitter from Aromaleigh. Nearly always I use some around my eyes. It doesn't drift into my eyes, but I don't mind a bit of drift onto my cheeks. It extends the influence of my eyes. They can be used wet or dry, to line or top (or mix with other loose powders or mineral powders). Today I used it over the Milani eyeshadow that had glitter only on the top layer. Still the Milani is a pretty color.

Body: I don't notice a whole lot of difference between a lotion with shimmer or a shimmer powder. It's just your preference. I tend not to wear it under long sleeves -- it can't be seen. But I do wear it in the summer.

Do you like to wear glitter?
What brands do you wear?

Karin

Originally posted 2009-02-28 12:48:52.

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