Breaking away from the amethysts from yesterday, I wanted to go for something a little different today. I do love all the GL colors from Aromaleigh.

Eyes all shadow AL Gothic Lolita which is 25% off this week.
Base: Lancome Cosmos cream shadow, a light pinky lilac; then a custom mix of sparkly beige powder
Crease: AL Verdant Wisp (green)
Outer corner: AL Elegant reverie (blue)
Dry lined top and bottom (outside the edge of the pencil liner) AL Aqua nightmare
Pencil bottom: MAC graphblack in waterline; MAC brownline outside that
Pencil top: Sephora Flashy Blue 08, bright aqua, just above the outer waterline
Mascara: Lancome Fatale in black
Brows: Chanel Blond-Taupe

Lips: NYX Jumbo Lip Pencil in 721 Soft Fuchsia, very pretty color!
Cheeks: no idea, will add later

Originally posted 2009-03-06 15:44:16.

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I was really happy with the way this turned out and how easy it was to do. This is the first time I've used these Meow colors. I love being able to try so many colors by ordering samples.

Eyes: all Meow unless noted
Base Nude Frost
Lids: ScandalEyes Nicole S (beigy pink, very shimmery)
Crease: ScandalEyes Prissy (deep green)
Outer corners and lined under eye: IdealEyes Mischievous Purrl (light green)
Lined top and lower: Sephora bright teal, flashy blue
Mascara: Stiletto
Concealer: Dior skinflash

Primer: Sheer Cover
Foundation: Lancome mineral,Ivory 10, topped with Lancome mineral powder, then my sparkly mix
Blush: Meow Masterpiece The Kiss, pink
Lips: Popster tinted lip conditioner, rimmed with Beauté Paramour

Anyway, I loved it! How about you?

I hope you had a great day!

Karin

Originally posted 2009-04-19 23:01:07.

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Quick and simple works for most days, especially if I wanted to layer up to something more dramatic by the end of the day. It would be easy to do that with this, or even just to change the lipstick for more drama. The longest part of this was tweaking the foundation, trying to use an expensive foundation that isn't the right color, but it is the lightest that they have.

5 parts makeup again: face; cheek color; eyes; lips; brows.

Eyes: my usual base, including Queen Phyllis (BE); then 1 shade of Ulta shadow (a green) and a bit of Ulta shadow with more sparkle (a light silvery gray) because I needed the sparkle; Chanel greenblack pencil to line; Clinique mascara.

Concealer: I used Maybelline Matte Mousse foundation for concealer again (not the concealer.) I find it is a the perfect color, not too light, not too dark, and much simpler than using two products. Also the texture works well and it doesn't crease.

Brows: La Prairie pencil

Face:
Foundation: I have an expensive Guerlain foundation, but I think it is too dark/yellow so I don't reach for it very often. Today I thought I'd mix it with Chanel illuminator, but it still looked too yellow. It doesn't pick that up, though, once my makeup is complete. But it takes the fun out of using it. Additionally I used more of the illuminator to highlight the center of my face.

Cheeks: rouge under my sparkly mix and over the mix, both Lancome, different colors, but both in the pink and plummy range.

Lips: Sephora 10, a sort of grape color (and tastes grape) with quite a bit of micro glitter in it. I generally don't wear it alone, but I really liked how it looked today. I've reapplied it several times, staying with the same color. I just didn't feel like changing it.

What are you doing with your makeup lately? Is the heat getting to you?

Karin
www.savvythinker.com

Originally posted 2010-08-10 15:35:50.

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I did this look yesterday, but I didn't have time to post it. I was very pleased with how it turned out and felt I looked great all day. All my pictures turned out well too, so it is difficult to pick the ones to show! I have no idea what I'm going to do with my eyes yet for today.

Eyes:
Brand New Mary Kay Spring 2009 Luminous Color Blue, Brown, Green in single square pan $15 This isn't even in their online catalog yet!
Cost for compact if you want one $18
Lime green on lid
Brown in crease and on outer corners -- pretty, fairly light shade

Lined eyes:
Turquoise Blue as bright liner on top and outside of the MAC pencils on the bottom
Bottom Lined: MAC graphblack on waterline; earthline below that
Top lined at edge of waterline from underneath Sephora bright turquoise waterproof flashy liner pencil

Mascara: Stiletto on top; Lancome on bottom.

Brows: Merle Norman powder. You can see how well it covers. It's a great shade!

Lips: NYX Round Gloss Queen of Africa

Blush:
I tried a really fun thing for the first time. I have a multitude of lip pencils that I rarely use. I decided to take one of them and use it as a blush. I used Jordana Magenta. This is a very inexpensive pencil I bought at the drug store several years ago. I just don't wear such strong magentas as lippies for the most part any more, so it sits unused.

Technique: I drew a fairly good sized swatch on the end of my index finger. I added one tiny drop of moisturizer and smooshed it together with my other index finger. I then applied this on my cheek bones.

I love the color and will definitely do this again and with other colors.

Karin

Originally posted 2009-03-10 09:22:43.

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I received my Arbonne order yesterday. I ordered (and received) 1 more eye shadow to complete my shadow box, as well as tinted moisturizer, so I wanted to try them out, even though I had thought to do AL mineral foundation spritzing the brush with water -- will do that tomorrow or lighten the tinted moisturizer in one step.

FYI is Arbonne's line for teens or young adults ("young individuals"), but the products are suitable for all ages. There are tinted moisturizers; glosses; cream shadows (not in a tube); and 4 different fragrances in shower gel, small spray, body cream, and sugar scrub. I tried the fragrances because, as you know, I love fragrance. More on those in another post. Shari told me how much she loves the tinted moisturizer, so I decided to try it. It looks good on her!

Eyes: Arbonne, except where noted, using new eye shape.
Base: Nude Frost (not Arbonne)(cream in a pot)
Lids: First used the soft gray (I think it might be matte). Then used lime green on top of the gray and alone under lower lash line. I wanted to know if the soft gray looked good by itself (it did) and whether it showed up enough (it did.) And I felt it would deepen the impact of the lime. (It did.) In a way it was like using a dark base instead of a skin tone one, but instead of it being cream, it was powder. In RL it looks more lime than it does in the picture.
Crease: Used lighter purple at top edges.
Mascara: Arbonne, 2 step
Brows: Merle Norman powder
Wet lined left lower: Sephora White; right lower: MAC white -- the MAC is much whiter and brighter; for a more natural look, choose the Sephora, for a more highlighted look, choose the MAC.
Lined top and lower: Tidal Wave, gel liner (not Arbonne) -- This is just a beautiful blue and blends nicely with the lime.
Lined again top and lower: Lancome Micro Palettes -- white (but really sheer) with silver -- I like this to drift down and around under my eyes some to extend the optical illusion of my eyes.
Concealer: Guerlain

Primer: Forgot
Foundation: Arbonne FYI Light tinted moisturizer -- this is a neat product that came recommended by Shari. It is a tad too dark on me. Comparing it to the Arbonne foundation that I use, the foundation is a tad lighter and pinker. I think this would be sufficient foundation and moisture for a lot of people. I used the RE9 moisturizer first.
Highlight all over face: Chanel liquid -- this made it a tad lighter -- could accomplish the same thing by mixing with regular moisturizer before applying or by mixing this with the tinted moisturizer and applying as one step.
Powder: My sparkly mix
Blush: Arbonne, light pink
Highlight: Guerlain Butterfly perles -- got it as a gwp -- really great color!
Bronzer: Arbonne -- Shari uses this on top of the tinted moisturizer (she uses light-medium tinted moisturizer, 1 shade darker than me.) I'm not sure if she uses powder or if the bronzer is her powder. Shari? The bronzer comes in a large solid compact, but applies softer than the SCA hyaluronic powder, which is very hard so it is difficult to get much product.

Update: Sherri says:

I always use powder to set my makeup and then I bronze.

Lips: Arbonne Prep and Plump Gleam + MAC lip liner, more at my LOTD post.

I'm happy with the look. It takes me longer to write it up than it does to apply it.

Do you use a tinted moisturizer?
Mary Kay makes a very nice one too. My MK consultant uses tinted moisturizer under her MK mineral foundation. It looks good on her.

If you use tinted moisturizer, do you use it with your regular moisturizer or by itself as the only moisturizer?

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

Karin

Originally posted 2009-07-22 12:02:52.

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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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I wanted to do a Take 2 yesterday with darker greys, but everything still looked so good, it didn't need refreshing. I'm not tired of the look yet, so today I re-did it using deeper greys.

Eyes:
Base: Dior light pink cream in wand; then my sparkly mix
Lid: Cat got your tongue? Meow IdealEyes Purrl -- light pink
Outer corners: Lancome Platinum Couture (darker grey in set)
Crease: Vincent Longo Concerto, glittery black-grey wet-dry – love these colors
Brows: La Prairie pencil

Lined upper: Clinique Granite 10 Quick Eyes pencil (med grey)
Then used the powder with it to go over the line.
Lined lower: MAC graphblack in waterline, then earthline outside it -- This time it didn’t look too strong, not like yesterday.
Lined just outside the lower Sephora Flashy Mauve waterproof pencil
Mascara top: Guerlain Maxi-Lash Black
Mascara lower: Stiletto I wanted a spiky look – love this and might start using it everyday.

Primer: I forgot! And it really does make a difference
Foundation: Revlon Vital Radiance Color 10 discontinued, can find on Internet
Concealer: Mary Kay Highlighting Pen Color 2
Color under my sparkly powder mix: Mary Kay cream rouge
Blush over the powder: Meow Lush Blush Hugs and Kitties -- I really like this!

Using Beau Nelson of Beauté's technique highlighting my lips
Too Faced Mermaid for lips, rimmed with Pink Bling
You can read about this technique here.

Don't you just love the lips with this technique!
I hope you try it!

How do you like this look?

Have a great day!

Karin

Originally posted 2009-03-26 08:58:17.

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There are a number of brushes you need in your arsenal in order to apply your colors in the best possible and easiest way. In general, I like real hair brushes, except for ones that are meant to be synthetic (foundation and concealer.)

Keep them clean
Clean them whenever you see residue in the brush. If you are oily or prone to acne, this will be more often (even daily) to keep the brushes clean. And you won't contaminate any of your product.

Some people use a conditioning shampoo.

I use a cleanser made for brushes by Merle Norman. I do not use a whole capful. I use 1/4 of the cap, filled with 3/4 water (that is the percentage). Put it in the sink. Swirl my brush(es). Add more water to it. Swirl some more. Empty basin. Squeeze excess out of brush. Fill basin with water and swirl brushes. Empty and repeat until brush is clean and water is clear.

Why do you need so many brushes?
Because using the right brush makes application easier.

Much less blending is required. In general, I believe if you lay it down right, you don't need to do much blending.

And you won't look like a clown with too much blush, for example, unless that is the look you are going for.

And if you have sensitive skin, where blending can actually feel hurtful, the better the brush, the softer or less pull on the skin.

Do I have to have them all?
No, but these work. Use what you have, but begin to collect others as you need them. If you buy good brushes (consider buying them when there is a gwp offered), they will last nearly forever.

Several of these brushes have hit the market only in more recent years, so it is possible that a brush we can't live without will be offered in the foreseeable future that meets a need we didn't know we had.

BE gives their brushes as part of many of their sets for face or eye. They are really good, and many are only offered in their sets, they cannot be bought separately. That's an added perk for buying their sets.

You can also look in places that sell brushes for arts and painting. These may work just as well and cost less than something you find at a cosmetic counter. For the most part, I have shown shapes so you know what you are looking for.

Brands I like
Bare Escentuals -- every brush I've used has been top notch -- often included in sets

Clinique -- the two I have are great; one type I've only seen at Clinique, a large fluffy eye brush (will add the name later, if it is on the brush) (works great for laying down strong color without being too much)(which is how the SA used it on me and therefore sold me on it -- I don't have anything like it)
CVS -- nice quality; not so easy to use as they are dual ended (they won't stand upright in a container -- they have to be flat)
Estee Lauder -- I'm still using a 20 year old set.
Lancome -- nice quality, I especially like the L'angle brush for eyes and use it daily.
Update: Lancome's mineral foundation brush is superb! It feels like velvet -- you are transported to a spa. If you use mineral foundation, do yourself a favor, go to a Lancome counter and try this brush. Let me know if you do! Do you know if there is anything out there that is identical to this brush in a different price range?
Mary Kay -- nice quality for the price.
Sephora -- every one I've tried has been top notch; they have great travel sets.
Trish McAvoy I have a couple of hers. They are good. Hers was the first brush similar to the Lancome L'Angle that I bought, but it is bigger and fuller than the Lancome.
Ulta -- I just bought a very small angle eye liner brush (I wanted something similar to a drugstore one that I can no longer find -- this is smaller, but it works for what I want to use it for. I used it to line my FOTD today)

Brands that are said to be good, but I have not tried
Aromaleigh edit: I love their fiber optic brushes.
MAC -- edit: I use a fiber optic brush of theirs for blush.

Types of brushes that you should have at a minimum
Anything else you have is just a plus. These should be in your staples.

Eyes
Angle eye brush to lay down the crease
Medium fluffy eye brush to lay down a base color
Short almost semi-circular eye brush to lay down the outer corner color
Sephora makes one called a Smudge Brush. It's perfect.

Denser round eye brush to use with Chanel type colors, if possible.

Fiber Optic eye brush as much for fun as anything. I have a BE one. Aromaleigh's are supposed to be very good. I really like their fiber optic eye shadow brushes.

Brush you could use for blending, if necessary
Angled or flat eyeliner brush for laying down shadow as eyeliners, usually dry, but works with gel also.

Regular shaped eyeliner brush for doing a wet or gel liner or
Regular shaped eyeliner brush with bent handle This is surprisingly easy to use.

Brow Brush if you use a powder form. Often these brushes come with a comb on one side. I rarely use the comb.

Face
Use any soft good sized fluffy brush for blending away any mistakes, if necessary.
Concealer brush(es), synthetic (or use your clean fingers)
Some concealers feed through a brush, in which case you might not need one.
Small thin one, for spot concealing.

Medium one for under eyes.

Fluffy dense brush to apply mineral makeup with, if you use it. BEs is very good.
Take your pick:

Fluffy brush, not so dense angled or not, to apply powder or BE Mineral Veil. Just like the above only a bit smaller in diameter.

Medium sized fluffy angled brush, to apply blush

Dense, flat round brush to apply blush, for certain colors

Fiber Optic Brush to apply blush or bronzer, when the color is strong and you only want a bit. It looks similar to this. I have one by BE and by Prescriptives. I have a smaller one by MAC. Aromaleigh's are supposed to be very good. I really like their fiber optic eye shadow brushes.

Specialty
This is a nice brush. The one end applies dry liner nicely.

Optional
Lips, only if you use one
Or, use the brush on the end of a lip pencil, if you have one, rather than buying an extra brush.
Lip brush, only if you use one.
Lip brush with a cover for your purse.

Makeup foundation brush
Synthetic brush to apply liquid or cream makeup, if you desire. Using your fingers is just as good and there is no product waste. You could also use a sponge.

Eyes
Dense round eye brush Sephora makes one, for laying down intense colors, such as Chanels. See above. (You can use the half round flat brush above just as easily, maybe more so)
Brush suitable for applying shadows wet -- I sometimes use an older brush that gives it new life.

Travel Set if you travel a lot or if you should need one for your purse.
Sephora has some good sets. Check for the one that has the type of brushes you like the most. Chanel often has one, but expensive.
Aromaleigh carries a set too, see link above.

This is a quick run down, and I might have forgotten one or two.

Which brand of brushes do you know and love?
It looks as though ELF and NYX have brushes reasonably priced, but I have not tried them. I have used several from CVS that are good.

Karin

Originally posted 2009-03-06 16:54:13.

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I changed the lippie from yesterday and used a different liner on my eyes. Instead of black and brown, I used bright green.

Eyes:
Base: Nude Frost, then Meow Nicole S
Lids: AL Torment
Crease: AL Basil
Lined top and lower with Sephora Flashy Green. Then drylined on outer edges with Torment. It looked striped on the lower, so on outer edge and through the middle I drylined with basil. That made it blend right.
Mascara: BE Buxom

Primer: Revlon
Foundation: EL stick, discontinued
Rouge: Beauté liqui-gel stain Harlot
Powder: my sparkly mix, followed by BE mineral veil as bronzer
Blush: none

Lip: NYX Diamond Sparkle lip gloss Copper Sparkle, rimmed with Clinique Whisper, also used in the middle. This is a really pretty color. It looks similar to Mark Metalicious glosses which I love.

The green really gave it some jazz. I liked it with green. I also liked it with black.

You can see it more here:

Karin

Originally posted 2009-04-12 15:45:16.

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If you are lucky enough to get Sephora's catalogs, you know how much fun it is to see the colors they show for each season.

Spring 2010 is no exception.

Bright and vibrant
The colors are bright and vibrant, more bright and vibrant than they have been in a while -- and they fit right in with the advertising and bottle of Sara Jessica Parker's new NYC fragrance. The dress she wears in the print ads would fit right in with the Sephora catalog.

I suspect this will get fashionistas to open their wallets for new colors.

Splitting lid and under eye colors
One thing I find particularly interesting about the eye makeup is that they are splitting the colors from the lid to the under eye. This is throughout the catalog.

Some looks to try
Grey and plum
One particularly pretty look is on a model with dark hair and light gray eyes. Her lids are deep gray, with a pink in the area under the brow. Her under eye is a deep purple/plum. She is wearing deep pink lipstick.

Warm pink or apricot with blue or purple
The model has dark hair and brown eyes. Her lid is warm pink. Her undereye is either periwinkle blue or purple. She is wearing a medium pink lip. I didn't like this look as well. The contrast is too great in the shadow colors.

A couple of interesting eyes with vertical placement of colors
This is an interesting look, one that they perhaps copied from the gorgeous Shiseido print ad of a couple of seasons ago. You'd have to have the right eye and the right colors and the right place to wear this look for it to be successful. However, the Shiseido eye was magnificent. I'd like to have someone do that eye on me.

Bright pink shadow
This wasn't particularly pretty on a couple of models. Not the right shade of pink for their skin tones.

Only one model that looks natural
She's on page 12 and in her early 20's, if that. Blond hair, blue eyes, pink nude lip, soft nude shadows.

Bright blue liner
The model is dark haired, brown eyed, medium tone skin, wearing nude pink lip. The only splash of color is the liner.

Bright turquoise shadow or liner
I use this a lot. It was vibrant on the model.

Important to get the balance right
For these looks to look right -- and not just tacky (which some of these looked) (unless you are going for tacky) -- the balance of tone, shades and colors has to be right. Sometimes a nude lip works; sometimes a bright lip works. They are pairing with brights in shadows either way.

It will be interesting to see if this color trend crosses all the major and indie cosmetic lines. Then, if people will embrace it.

I'm definitely going to try the gray and plum look.

Karin
www.savvythinker.com

Originally posted 2010-02-18 10:20:58.

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