Hello Waffle 1000 Likes: Looks

One of Us!, 23, Enabling, 1000 Likes / Empty Wallets, IMAM, Heavy Breathing Cat

Yesterday I posted my swatches of Hello Waffle’s 1000 Likes collection. Today it’s the looks. Everything I did with this collection is sparkly and colorful and wonderful. I had so much fun with these colors. I even put them all on my face at once!

Look 1: Empty Wallets and 1000 Likes

I started by applying 1000 Likes to my primed lids. I used a tapered brush to apply Empty Wallets to the outer corners, layering it over the gold on the outer portion of the lid and up and outward past the crease. I worked it along the crease towards the inner corner and blended. Then I applied Pixie Epoxy to the center of the green area and patted some more Empty Wallets on top. I used a liner brush to extend the green from the outer corner along the lower lashes stopping before the tear duct. I put some gold in the inner corner, up to the end of the green on the lower lashline. Then I switched to a fluffy brush and used a tiny bit of gold along the top edge of the green and under the brow bone.

Look 2: Heavy Breathing Cat and IMAM

I used Darling Girl’s Superstar Serum to make an ombre gradient liner. First I mixed the serum with Heavy Breathing Cat and applied it to the inner half of my upper lashline. Then I mixed the serum with IMAM and applied it to the outer half, ending in a wing. Last, I combined the two mixtures and carefully went over the middle third of the line to blur the transition between the colors. (These two colors work perfectly for this silver and navy look as well.)

Look 3: One of Us!, Enabling and 23

I primed my lids and applied a thick line of One of Us! across my lids and around under my lower lashes. Then I added another thick line of Enabling above it on top and under it on the bottom. Above that I added 23, going up to my brow bone, as well as in the inner corner. I blended the transitions between the colors. I lined my eyes with black pencil liner and smudged it out with a brush. I added a bit more of One of Us! on top of the liner, and finished with mascara.

Look 4: 23, IMAM and Heavy Breathing Cat

For this I used my now-standard Pixie Epoxy smoky eye technique. I primed my lids and patted on the pixie epoxy. After it set I applied 23 all over the lid and under the lower lashes as well. I used a tiny bit of Heavy Breathing Cat on a blending brush to smooth out the edges. Then, since I had some IMAM leftover on my mixing palette, I mixed it with superstar serum to use as liner on my upper and lower lashlines. As usual, I ended with mascara. It’s so easy to use 23 to blend out other colors (like looks 3 and 5 and this smoky eye with One of Us!), but it’s gorgeous on its own too, so I wanted to give it a look where it was the centerpiece.

Look 5: The entire collection! Enabling, 1000 Likes, Empty Wallets, IMAM, One of Us!, 23 and Heavy Breathing Cat.

I made a rainbow on my face! I primed my lids and put a tiny bit of Enabling in the inner corners, then 1000 Likes until the middle of the lid. Next I added Empty Wallets, and curved the line of shadow up and in a little bit, to follow the angle of my crease. I did the same with IMAM. I added One of Us! above the blue in the outer corner. I blended the upper line of everything using a clean brush, then went over that with a bit of 23. I applied Heavy Breathing Cat to my lower lashline. I finished with a super heavy line of winged liquid liner and mascara. (This look is so much fun, it’s getting its own post tomorrow, to show off all the rainbowy goodness in more detail.)

Even though the collection only has 7 colors, I had no problem at all coming up with five looks. They’re just so easy to mix and match! Which look is your favorite? I think number 2 is my favorite (I always love gradient liner), but number 5 is the most different from anything I’ve done before, so it’s the specialest.

Hello Waffle 1000 Likes: Swatches

My next review is of Hello Waffle‘s 1000 Likes collection. This is a little collection with only seven colors, which Christine created to celebrate getting 1000 Likes on Facebook. The collection feels appropriately celebratory to me, cuz it’s pretty much a rainbow with gold sparkles.

Swatch time! As always, Urban Decay Primer Potion on the top/left and Pixie Epoxy on the bottom/right. The top picture is in indoor natural light and the bottom one is in direct sunlight.

It’s a rainbow! 23, One of Us!, Enabling, 1000 Likes, Empty Wallets, IMAM and Heavy Breathing Cat

23: “Rose gold shimmer, more on the rosy side. [Christine’s] favourite from this collection!” This color is great. A nice rosy pink with a yellow gold sheen, which combine to make it look almost peachy. Over primer it’s more sparkly, and on a sticky base the sparkles form more of a sheen. It’s beautiful either way.

One of Us!: “Dark mauve/plum with golden shimmer.” This is a really pretty plum, a little bit on the reddish side. The shimmery seems gold in some lights, but more coppery in others. It needs a sticky base for all of the shimmer to really shine. (I used this over pixie epoxy in a smoky eye with 23 to blend out the edges a little bit ago. It was stunning.)

Enabling: “Copper with gold shimmer.” This is a coppery orange with a strong metallic gold sheen. It has great pigmentation with or without pixie epoxy.

1000 Likes: “Dark gold shimmer.” Yep. It’s a dark gold. A little bit orangey. Very metallic. The warm orange tones make my blue eyes absolutely pop.

Empty Wallets: “Dark rich green with gold shimmer.” I see this as an olive green with a strong gold sheen to it. None of my pictures came out as green as it seems to me in person and I’m not sure why. It’s a little sheer without a sticky base.

IMAM: “Dark navy with gold sparkles.” IMAM is named after /r/indiemakeupandmore, the subreddit that brought me into the online indie community. It’s a dark navy blue with golden sparkles. Over pixie epoxy a strong metallic blue sheen comes out, which is gorgeous. Over primer it’s sheerer and less sparkly. It pairs beautifully with Heavy Breathing Cat.

Heavy Breathing Cat: “Golden silver shimmer.” This color is interesting in that it’s both silver and gold. It’s a steely silver base with golden shimmer mixed in. It performs well even without pixie epoxy.

Overall Thoughts: This is such a fun little collection! It’s colorful, but not too bright, and the golden sparkles running through the colors helps to tie everything together. The darker colors are a bit sheerer over primer but super shiny and opaque over pixie epoxy, and the lighter colors all work equally well over both bases.

I had so much fun making shimmery colorful looks with these! The looks’ll be up soon, like usual.

Check the looks out here.

Ways to Wear Red Eyeshadow (My Guest Post on Toxid-Lotus)

Today’s my guest post on Toxid-Lotus! Red eyeshadow is one of my unexpected newfound loves. I never in a million years thought I would find a way to wear it, but I kept picking up collections that had reds in them. Once I started trying to wear them, it turned out I really liked them! So when the opportunity came to do a guest post for Luna, I figured I’d share my red eyeshadow with a different audience. I posted three looks, using different red shadows. A peachy intro-to-red-eyeshadow look, a matte red and black smoky eye and a super fun sparkly red white and blue look. I really love how they turned out, and so I hope you check them out over on Toxid-Lotus.

Does red eyeshadow intimidate you or did it used to? How do you wear it?

FOTD: Lavender and Grey Soft Smoky Eye

I was in the mood for something simple, so I grabbed a couple of shades from Notoriously Morbid’s all-matte Slay Me collection (which is in line to be reviewed soon). I paired the Willow color, a soft pastel lavender, with the Angel color, a grey-taupe that pretty much goes with everything. I love using grey when I want a softer look.

It’s pretty. Kind of like a super toned down smoky eye.

Eyes:

• Notoriously Morbid Quiet Storm
• Notoriously Morbid Gypsy Curse
• Urban Decay 24/7 liner in Uzi
• Lorac Behind the Scenes primer
• Maybelline Great Lash

Face:

• MAC Face and Body in N1
• Laura Mercier Secret Concealer
• MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural in Light
• Shiro Potion

Lips:

• MAC Syrup

I primed my eyelids like usual and applied Quiet Storm, a matte lavender, all over my lid. I blended Gypsy Storm, a matter grey/taupe, into the outer part of the crease. I lined my eyes with a metallic dark grey liner and smudged it out with a brush. I finished my eyes with some mascara. I did my face makeup like usual, with pinky purpley blush and lipstick.

I really like how simple and wearable this look is. The tiny hint of lavender is subtle, but makes it a bit more interesting than your typical grey/taupe daytime smoky eye. Plus, it gets bonus Buffy points. I love that show.

FOTD: My First Attempt at Contouring

Today I attempted to contour. I literally cannot tell any difference, so I think I did it wrong. My face looks exactly the same to me. But my eye makeup is pretty!

I feel like kind of a jerk for using all discontinued eyeshadows, but they’re all pretty easily dupable, I think. Any light gold, medium brown and sparkly dark grey would work.

Eyes:

• Shiro Perfect World
• Shiro Mistrust
• Shiro Second Kira
• Darling Girl Superstar Serum
• Urban Decay Primer Potion
• Maybelline Great Lash

Face:

• Smashbox Camera Ready BB Cream in Light
• Laura Mercier Secret Concealer in 1
• Shiro Fatality  Finishing Powder
• Shiro Revive Blush
• Nars Laguna Bronzer

Lips:

• Benefit Rocketpop

I started by priming my lids and applying Perfect World, a light gold, all over my lid. I blended some Mistrust, a medium brown, into the crease. Then I mixed superstar serum with Second Kira, a super sparkly dark charcoal, and applied it as liner with a tiny wing. I curled my lashes, applied mascara and moved on to my face makeup. I was feeling lazy, so I used BB cream instead of foundation, but I still use my undereye concealer (my dark circles have been super bad these days) and set everything with powder. I used Revive, a very pale, shimmery blush, but didn’t feel complete, so I decided to pull out some bronzer. You may have noticed a distinct lack of bronzer in my posts. That’s because I never use it! I wasn’t quite sure what to do, so I used my contour brush to sweep some in a 3 shape around the side of my face and under my cheekbones and blended it out. As far as I can tell, this did nothing. Maybe I looked a little warmer, but my cheekbones did not seem any more defined to me. Oh well. I finished with some cinnamon-rose lipstick and called it a day.

While my contouring was not a success, at least it didn’t look bad! Just not much of anything. On the plus side though, I used some more brown eyeshadow and really felt like me wearing it! Do you guys contour? Any advice?

FOTD: Monochromatic Monday Metallic Grey

Today my favorite subreddit, /r/indieislandofmisfits, is doing a monochromatic make up challenge. I decided to join in. Last week when I did my grey and teal smoky eye, I felt like an alien robot, but didn’t exactly look like one. So today I decided to actually do robot make up! Metallic grey and silver for the win!

I’m pale enough that this looks almost Pleasantville-y. I like it. If I owned white powder, I would have used it. I love the black and white picture effect.

Eyes:

• Hello Waffle Magic Mirror
• Urban Decay 24/7 eyeliner in Uzi
• Urban Decay Primer Potion
• Maybelline Great Lash

Face:

• MAC Face and Body in N1
• Laura Mercier Secret Concealer in 1
• Hello Waffle Eternity (as contour)
• Hello Waffle Magic Mirror (as blush/highlighter)

Lips:

• Hello Waffle Machine
• Lush Honey Trap lip balm

For this, I actually started with my lips. I applied my Lush lip balm and then used a lip brush to pat Machine, a lip safe metallic grey eyeshadow, on top. Next I did my face. I applied my usual foundation and concealer but no powder. I used a contour brush to sweep Eternity, a dark silver-grey, under my cheek bones, and then used a blush brush to apply Magic Mirror, a light sparkly silver to my cheeks. Last, I did my eyes. I primed my lids and applied a light wash of Magic Mirror. I lined my upper and lower lashes with a metallic dark grey pencil and applied mascara. I touched up the middle of my lips where some pink was poking through and called it a day.

I’m super surprised by how much I like the metallic grey lips on me. So much so that I might actually have to hunt down an actual metallic grey lip product. My original idea was to do something more silver, but alas, my bright silver eyeshadows were either not lip-safe or unlabelled as to lip safety and a quick google search didn’t turn up anything, so I moved on to the metallic greys. But it was a happy accident, because I think the darker color is probably more wearable than the silver would have been and I totally love it!

FOTD: Soft and Pretty Date Night Look

This is the make up I actually wore on Valentine’s Day. It’s soft and pretty and classic. It has the same vibe as my wedding make up, although there are a few differences (no pink eyeshadow and rosier cheeks for my wedding). But still, I love it. I feel so pretty, and it brings back good memories. The perfect Valentine’s combo.

I love black winged liner so much. It’s kinda nice to let it be the centerpiece for once.

Eyes:

• Shiro Doge
• Shiro Wildflowers
• Urban Decay Primer Potion
• Kat Von D Tattoo Liner
• Benefit They’re Real Mascara

Face:

• MAC Face and Body in N1
• Laura Mercier Secret Concealer
• MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural in Light
• Shiro 1-Up

Lips:

• Shiro It’s Called Love

I primed my eyes and swept Doge, a sparkly sheer champagne, from my lid up to my brow. I added Wildflowers, a sparkly light pink, to the outer corner and added black winged liquid liner. I curled my lashes and applied mascara. I did my face make up as usual, with 1-Up, a pinky-peach blush. I finished with It’s Called Love, a reddish pink tinted balm.

I love this look. I tried taking pictures of it on Valentine’s Day, but I didn’t do my make up until after dark and they just didn’t turn out. I love the pairing of black winged liner with a pink-red lip. It’s still classic, but reddish pink lips instead of bright true red makes it feel more romantic. Plus, if you’re comfortable with winged liner, this look is super quick and easy. Perfect for when you have a date but not a lot of time to get ready. What make up do you wear on dates?

Darling Girl My Three Witches Collection: Looks

Re-Witched, Love’s a Witch, Witch Way Now, Hell Hath No Fury, Painted World / The Apocalypse, Not, Woogy, Just Harried, Blinded by the Whitelighter, Scry Harder

Yesterday I posted my swatches of Darling Girl’s My Three Witches collection . Today it’s time for the looks. This collection is very cohesive, in that all the colors are sparkly but somewhat subdued (especially when applied over just primer), so all the looks are in a similar vein, which should make them easy to wear.

Look 1: Hell Hath No Fury, Witch Way Now, Just Harried and The Apocalypse, Not

For this, I primed my lids then patted Witch Way Now all over the lid. I placed Hell Hath No Fury in the outer corner/crease and blended. I used Just Harried to highlight under my brow and mixed The Apocalypse, Not with superstar serum and applied it to my lower lashline. I finished with dark brown liquid liner, drawn with a strong wing, and mascara.

Look 2: The Apocalypse, Not, Just Harried and Re-Witched

I primed my eyes, including beneath and then patted Pixie Epoxy on top of my lids. I covered the Pixie Epoxy with The Apocalypse, Not, and used a pencil brush to apply some to the lower lashline as well. I blended out the edges using Just Harried and patted Re-Witched onto the inner corner. Then I lined my entire eye with black pencil liner and smudged it out with a brush. I used some of the liner on my brush to darken the outer corners. Then I finished with lots of black mascara.

Look 3: Woogy and Scry Harder

This is an attempt at a very subtle halo eye. I patted Scry Harder into the center of my primed lids, and applied Woogy to the inner and outer corners and blended it up towards the middle. I used a clean blending brush to soften the edges. I lined my eyes with pencil liner to finish it off.

Look 4: Just Harried and Love’s a Witch

For this, I applied primer and then patted Just Harried over the lid. I applied Love’s a Witch to the outer corner and blended. Then I finished with black winged liner and mascara. Easy and simple.

Look 2: Painted World and Blinded by the Whitelighter

I started by priming my lids. Then I applied Blinded by the Whitelighter all over the lid. Next I added Painted World to the outer corner and blended. I lined my eyes with a shimmery dark grey pencil liner and smudged it out with a brush. Then I applied Blinded by the Whitelighter to my lower waterline. I curled my lashes and put on mascara. This look feels Cinderella-y to me.Those are my five My Three Witches looks. All of them are pretty classic and easy to wear. The second one’s my favorite, because it’s the boldest and I love the hidden purple glitter in The Apocalypse, Not. Also, I’m just on a smoky eye kick right now. Which one’s your favorite?

Darling Girl My Three Witches Collection: Swatches

Today I’m reviewing the My Three Witches collection from Darling Girl Cosmetics. It’s a ten shadow collection, based on the TV show Charmed. I definitely watched Charmed with my sister when we were younger and have a soft spot for the show. Unlike some of the other collections I’ve reviewed, this one is more subdued, with a lot of neutrals and more subdued colors. Everything is super sparkly, though! It’s worth noting that the website swatches are more intense and saturated than I found the colors to be. To my eye, it’s an entire collection of subdued shades with a lot of sparkle.

Now for the swatches. Everything is swatched in natural light, over Urban Decay Primer Potion on the top/left and Pixie Eposy on the bottom/right. The lower right picture in each collage is in direct sunlight. Everything else is indoor natural light.

The colors: Painted World, Witch Way Now, Hell Hath No Fury and Re-Witched

The neutrals: Blinded by the Whitelighter, Scry Harder, Woogy, Just Harried and The Apocalypse, Not.

Re-Witched: “Shiny bright yellow gold with yellow gold iridescence and sparkle.” The description for this is spot on. It’s a sparkly bright yellow gold. It’s by far the brightest color in the collection, but it applies much sheerer over just primer if you want something less intense

Love’s a Witch: “Bronze pearl with pink undertones and a glint of pink sparkle.” To me this color is more of a reddish brown. In the bag it looks super red, but in looks it reads as a subtle reddish-orange brown on me.

Hell Hath No Fury: “Rich, sizzling burgundy filled purple undertones and sparkle.” I see this as a subdued purplish red. Over pixie epoxy it becomes more magenta and has a much stronger sheen.

Witch Way Now: “Pinky champagne beige.” This is a nice champagney pink with a fair bit of sparkle. It’s a type of neutral color that I love and find super easy to wear.

Painted World: “Warmed  pearly blue melded with khaki and silver tones and a scattering of blue sparkles.” I see this as a light blue with a silvery sheen, that turns warm in certain lighting. It feels like a Cinderella color to me, and is pretty sheer over primer.

Blinded by the Whitelighter: “A thousand orbs of silver dancing in the sunlight.” This is a straight ahead, slightly sheer sparkly silver. It works well in the inner corner.

Scry Harder: “Gunmetal taupe with champagne tones.” I see this as a taupe with a green sheen. The sparkles in this one look almost purple. It’s noticeably more opaque and shiny over pixie epoxy, but it also stained my arm slightly blue where the pixie epoxy had been.

Woogy: “Deep brown with champagne tones.” This is a pretty straightforward sparkly brown. It’s the darkest color in the collection, but it’s still just on the deeper end of medium to me.

Just Harried: “Champagne with subtle blue sparkles.” This is a really pretty, easy to use champagne. It’s sheer over primer, but the sparkles still show up. The sparkles are sort of blue-violet, but their color is only noticeable if you look closely. This is the lightest color in the collection

The Apocalypse, Not: “Rich antique gold with contrasting blue sparkles.” This is a bronzy tarnished gold color with big purple sparks. It’s almost equally pigmented over primer as over pixie epoxy. It’s one of my favorites since it’s so rich and the purple sparkle is unexpected.

Overall Thoughts: I think this would be a really good collection if you wanted something with a little bit of color and sparkle but that was still on the conservative side. All of the colors fit well together, but there’s not a lot of contrast. Most everything is medium-dark and everything has a very sparkly finish, which led to a fair bit of fallout during application. (But, this was only a problem for me during application, not when I was wearing them.) The looks I created all had a similar vibe, with a lot of simple, subtle looks. Nothing too crazy here! It’s also worth noting that the collection is no longer available in sample bags (at least all at the same time), since Susan now limits samples to five per order. The bags I got are a variety of sizes and thicknesses, with some being of noticeably better quality than others.

Stay tuned for the looks. They’re all easy and wearable, cuz that’s this collection’s thing.

And the looks are here!

FOTD: Red and Purple Halo Eye

Next week I’m going to be the guest blogger over on Toxid Lotus, where I’ll be posting ideas on how to use red eyeshadow. This is one of the looks that I did, originally intended for that post, but it didn’t quite turn out how I planned and wound up looking too similar to another one I’d already. So it goes here, as a red eyeshadow post preview! I was inspired by Celadon Alley’s totally awesome red and purple halo eye, but it just didn’t come out as red as I wanted, I think because my hooded lids ate all the color.

See! Lots of red on my eyelids! It’s just hiding when my eyes are open.

Eyes:

• Shiro Unforgettable
• Shiro Heart Attack
• Shiro Shinigami
• Shiro Cake!
• Stila Wind (from the In the Know palette)
• Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy
• Darling Girl Superstar Serum
• Urban Decay Primer Potion
• Kat Von D Tattoo liner
• Benefit They’re Real mascara
• Maybelline Great Lash

Face:

• MAC Face and Body in N1
• MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural in Light
• Laura Mercier Secret Concealer in 1
• Tarte Amazonian Clay Blush in Natural Beauty

Lips:

• Shiro Who Swallowed a Star
• Shiro A Girl and A Cat

For this look, I primed my eyes, then applied Unforgettable, a sparkly red, to the middle half of my lid, extending it just past the iris. I added a line of Heart Attack, a magenta-red, on either side of the center dot and traced it carefully in the crease above as well. Then I used a pencil brush to place Shinigami, a darker purple, in the inner and outer corners. I blended all three together, so there were no harsh transitions. Then I carefully added a dot of pixie epoxy to the center of each lid and patted more Unforgettable on top to bring out the sparkles. I mixed some Heart Attack with superstar serum and used it to line my lower waterline. I lined my upper lashes with black liquid liner and applied mascara to both sets of lashes. I applied a little bit of Cake!, a shimmery white with just a hint of red tones, to the inner corner and inner part of the lower lashline. I used a matte peach eyeshadow to highlight below the browbone and to blend out the edges of the darker colors. There was a lot of fallout, so I cleaned it up before I did the rest of my face make up. I used a red blush and applied Who Swallowed a Star, a bright pink-toned red tinted balm, over the top of A Girl and A Cat, a deep purple tinted balm.

I like the way this turned out, it just wasn’t what I thought it would look like. But I’m loving all the red shadow looks I’ve been doing, and I’m super excited for next week’s guest post. A week from today!