March Wrap-Up

Month number three on my blog! March went really well for me. I posted 25 new looks, reviewed two collections, did a guest post for Phyrra.net and posted two tutorials, one on applying foundation and one on salvaging broken lip balms. I definitely embraced bolder lips and also learned a new technique that’s really improved my halo eyes. I did a mix of crazy out-there looks and more simple wearable ones. It was a good month.

Reviews: I reviewed two collections this month, Notoriously Morbid’s all-matte Buffy-themed Slay Me collection, which I did five looks for, and My Pretty Zombie’s neutral WTF trio, which got three looks.

Looks: I created 25 new looks in March. Five Slay Me looks, three WTF looks, five looks for IMAM challenges, one for my guest post on Phyrra.net, two animal-themed looks and nine regular old face of the days. My favorites were:

• My Animate Chess-Piece and Doge challenge look, with Visual Kei lip lustre. Fyrinnae’s lip lustres are definitely helping me love bright lips.
• My African Pygmy Kingfisher look, with Hello Waffle’s Mad and Golden Stairs and Shiro’s Team Rocket, along with bright blue liner. This makes me excited to do more animal-themed looks next month.
• My Sexy Nerd look, with Fyrinnae’s Sexy Nerd and Corvus Champaggin, Clio and Melpomene. Lip lustres and Corvus shadows are both new to me this month and I love them.
• The look I did for Phyrra.net, with Notoriously Morbid Jupiter Rain and Bloody Awful Poet. I was inspired by Crimson and Clovher‘s Queen of Hearts look for this, but changed the colors and the shape of the shadow placement and took out the liner. I was super happy with the result.
• Green and pink combos! Specifically, green eyes and pink lips. I did this twice and loved it both times. So springy and lovely.

Empties: I finished up a ton of samples this month, along with some bigger products. I started a sample box, where I pick out a handful of samples and put them in a box in the center of my make up area, with the goal of using them by the end of the month. Seeing the samples every time I did my make up helped me not forget about them! I’m definitely doing this again next month.

• Philosophy Purity One-Step Facial Cleanser: This is my all time favorite cleanser. I started using it in college and it’s been my go to ever since. It’s gentle and milky and it doesn’t dry out my skin, even if I use it multiple times in the same day.
• Jack Black Deep Dive Glycolic Facial Cleanser: This didn’t do much for me. Sometimes I wonder why I even bother to try cleanser samples. But I’ve heard you can use it as a mask too, so if I ever get another sample of it, I’d try that.
• Olay Complete All Day UV Moisturizer for Sensitive Skin: I finished another half-empty bottle of this this month. It’s my favorite moisturizer and I have yet another bottle already open.
• Benefit Total Moisture Facial Cream: This is definitely a cream, not a lotion, which surprised me because I guess I hadn’t read the label closely. It moisturized well, but since it was so thick I only used it at night. It had a very strong floral scent, which was pleasant enough, but I prefer unscented face lotions. I wouldn’t buy it.
• Shiseido Ibuki Refining Moisturizer: This was very thin and runny. It had a floral scent. It was fine, but I wouldn’t buy it.
• Sephora Total Age Defy Cream: I liked this much more than I thought I would. It was definitely my favorite lotion sample this month. I felt like my skin looked nice after I used it, and the consistency was similar to my go to Olay lotion. I’d consider buying it, but it’s way more expensive than Olay so I probably won’t.
• Benefit It’s Potent! Eye Cream: I like this. I don’t know much about eye creams, but it seems to work, I think. Unlike the face cream, it’s not scented. I’d consider buying it once my stash of eye cream samples runs out.
• Kate Somerville ExfoliKate: This had an herbal scent that made me feel like I was at a fancy spa. The grits were very fine and it didn’t scratch too much when I rubbed it on my face. I liked it.
• REN Gycol Lactic Radiance Renewal Mask: This smells exactly like melted orange natural gummies from the health food store! Which I actually like. It feels kind of gross when it’s on. Like you’re covered in a layer of goo (which you are, because it’s the consistency of goo, with little lumpy bits). The first time I tried it I followed the directions on the bottle and it didn’t do much, so I looked up what it was supposed to do online and found an extra “rub it around with your fingers” step before rinsing it off, which felt nice. I think it did good things for my skin? I definitely wouldn’t buy it, though.
• Benefit They’re Real! Mascara: I really liked this mascara. It was my favorite for awhile, because I really like the way it makes my lashes look, nice and separated. But the brush was pretty spiky and I occasionally poked myself with it, plus it’s not cruelty-free, so I’ll use up the other samples I have but if I need a new mascara, I like Buxom Lash better.
• Benefit They’re Real! Push-Up Liner: I pretty much flat out hated this. Hard to apply, flaky and I didn’t like the look.
• Stila Stay All Day Liquid Liner: This eyeliner lasted me well over a year. It gives a nice dark black line and is easy to apply, plus it’s pretty waterproof. I like this and have a back up which I’ll open once my Kat Von D runs out.
• Urban Decay Anti-Aging Primer Potion: Yet another Urban Decay primer sample. I can’t quite tell what it being “anti-aging” actually means. It was slipperier than the original formula. I like the original one better.
• Jouer Lip Gloss in Peony: This is not so much an empty as a product I tried to use and am getting rid of. It smells like green plants and I do not like it. Also, the corners on the packaging poke my fingers and the color is sheer but not my favorite. It pulls off whatever’s underneath if you try to layer it over lipstick. If you wear it on it’s own, it’s not too sticky and feels nice on the lips, but that’s pretty much the only good thing I can say about it. Not a fan.
• The Body Shop Mango Hand Cream: This wasn’t as thick as I like a hand cream to be, but it did soak in quickly. The mango scent had a slightly floral quality to my nose.
• The Body Shop Pink Grapefruit Body Butter: I love this stuff. The Body Shop’s grapefruit scent is fantastic and long lasting, and I really like their body butter formula. I use it on my hands and feet before bed. I would definitely buy this scent again.
• Lush Dream Cream: I’m not a fan of Lush’s lotions, and this one was no exception. It smelled super herbal to me (when I looked up the description it said lavender, which I dislike and chamomile) and left a bit of a film on my skin.

Orders: My mom’s package of orders from November through February made it here, so I have lots of new things to play with, including indie lip balms, Fyrinnae lip lustres and a ton of eyeshadow samples. I’ve been having so much fun with my new things! I ordered from two new brands in March and four brands I’d bought from before, as well as some stuff from a few destashes. I decided towards the beginning of the month to officially start a low-buy, which has been going well. Since my low-buy started I’ve only placed three orders: two from destashes and a small one from Haus of Gloi’s spring collection. Next month I have a swap package coming from an exchange I’m participating in, so I’m looking forward to that. I’m also planning on sticking with my low-buy in April.

Goals: I feel like I made a halo eye breakthrough this month and having been wearing even bolder lip colors, so I did well with my March goals. (I even added a bold lip tag to my blog!) Next month I’ve got my first tutorial for a make up look, which I’m excited to share with you! I’m also planning on continuing my series of looks inspired by predatory animals. I’ve also got some more IMAM challenge looks and some dares from Indie Truth or Dare to put together, which should be fun.

How was March for you? What are your goals for April?

FOTD: A Tight Dress and Shoes to Kill For Challenge

For the next IMAM challenge pairing, I got Hello Waffle’s A Tight Dress and Notoriously Morbid’s Shoes to Kill For. Since one’s a bright red and the other’s a dark purple, I decided to have another go at a red and purple halo eye.

My new halo eye technique is definitely working better than my old one.

Unfortunately when I put my glasses on, they hide the red pretty much entirely. Until I blink. Then BAM!

Eyes:

• Notoriously Morbid Shoes to Kill For
• Hello Waffle A Tight Dress
• Shiro Shinigami
• Stila Bliss
• Stila Bare
• Urban Decay Primer Potion
• Sephora Collection Black Lace Eyeliner
• Make Up Forever Smoky Extravagant Mascara

Face:

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

Lips:

• Urban Decay Naked lipstick

I recently discovered a new halo eye technique, which I really like. I started by applying a transition color (I used a dusty rose-brown) in the crease on my primed lids. Then I patted Shinigami, a sparkly purple, onto the inner and outer thirds of my eye. I used a pencil brush and applied A Tight Dress, a dark purple, to further darken the outer and inner corners. I also put some on the outer and inner thirds of my lower lashline as well. Next I put some Shinigami into the gap in the middle of the lower lashline. Then I carefully patted Shoes to Kill For, a bright sparkly red, into the middle of each eyelid. I dab a tiny bit over the purple in the center of the lower lashline as well. Then I blended. I tried to make a smooth transitions between the two purples but keep the red from getting muddied. In the spirit of full disclosure, I blended the shadow up way too high and needed to clean up the edges with some lotion and a q-tip. So I went back over my crease with the same transition color I’d used before. I also applied a matte skintone shade below my browbone. I lined my eyes with black pencil liner, curled my lashes and applied mascara. I did my face like always, used a little bit of red blush and finished it off with a nude lipstick.

All in all, I’m really happy with this look. This is what I was going for last time I tried to do a red and purple halo eye. I think using a super bright, almost pink toned red with a darker purple helped, because there was such a strong difference between the red and the purple.

FOTD: Inamorata and Aventurine Challenge

Over on IMAM, the lovely Crimson and Clovher challenged me to do a look with Mad Lab’s Aventurine and Dawn Eyes’ Inamorata. Inamorata is a soft sparkly white and Aventurine is a dark green, so the combination immediately made me thing of Christmas, with evergreen trees and snow, so I decided to add a bright red lip for a full out Christmas look!

I decided to try a slightly less upturned wing shape. I can’t decide if I like it or not. I might try something in between this and my usual super high flick next time.

I love the combination of red lips and black glasses. I also included a pre-gloss picture of the look with matte lips. I think it’s more festive with the shiny lips.

Eyes:

• Mad Lab Aventurine
• Dawn Eyes Inamorata
• Darling Girl Superstar Serum
• Urban Decay Primer Potion
• Make Up Forever Smoky Extravagant Mascara

Face:

• MAC Face and Body in N1
• Laura Mercier Secret Concealer in 1
• MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural in Light
• Benefit Benetint

Lips:

• Stila Stay All Day Liquid Lipstick in Beso
• MAC Viva Glam Rihanna Lipglass

For this look I applied Inamorata, a sheer sparkly white, all over my freshly primed lids. I mixed Aventurine, a deep green, with superstar serum and applied the mixture as liner. Instead of my usual strong upwards flick, I kept the end of the line pointed more downwards. I curled my lashes and applied mascara. I put on my foundation, concealer and powder and applied a rosy cheek stain with my fingers. I finished with a matte red liquid lipstick topped with a sparkly red gloss.

The white and green shadows went together so easily, it didn’t feel like much of a challenge! But I love that this look gave me an excuse to wear my Viva Glam Rihanna lip gloss. I think it’s a super pretty sparkly red, but I so rarely have occasion to wear it. I’m hoping I can work it into more looks before next December! It’s too pretty to keep just for the holidays. However, my husband pretty much hates it, so maybe not. Do you have colors you like that your SO isn’t into?

FOTD: Golden Purple Monochromatic Look

This is a quick little face of the day I took pictures of a a while back but never got around to posting. I was in the mood for something purpley, and Hello Waffle does excellent purples. Both of the shadows I used are from the seasonal Persinette collection.

Really, nothing fancy here. But I like sharing looks, so if you’ve got these colors or something similar, you’ve got another idea on how to use them.

Eyes:

• Hello Waffle Silk
• Hello Waffle Golden Stairs
• Urban Decay Primer Potion in Anti-Aging
• Stila Stay All Day Liquid Liner in Dark Brown
• Maybelline Great Lash Mascara

Face:

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

Lips:

• Marc Jacobs Kissability Lip Lacquer

I applied Silk, a medium purple with golden shimmer, to my primed lids. I blended out the edges with Golden Stairs, a light gold. Next I applied dark brown liquid liner with a tiny wing and some mascara. I did my face and put on a berry blush and a purple-mauve lipgloss with some shimmer.

I like that this look is relatively subtle, even though I used similar colors for my eyes, lips and cheeks. It’s monochromatic, but not too in your face about it.

FOTD: I Call It Mr. Pointy and Mockingjay Challenge

My next look from the IMAM sample challenge is pretty cool because it combines two different shadows named after two things I love, Buffy and the Hunger Games. /u/gossipbomb suggested I use Shiro’s Mockingjay and Notoriously Morbid’s I Call It Mr. Pointy together, “because girl power!” So I did. Plus, gold a red go great together, so it was super easy to do! Kind of a bronzey burgundy version of my Gryffindor look.

I really like it! Although it’s rainy season now and the sun doesn’t like me anymore, so for the next couple months my pictures are gonna be a little dark and grey.

Eyes:

• Shiro Mockingjay
• Notoriously Morbid I Call It Mr. Pointy
• Urban Decay Primer Potion
• Kat Von D Tattoo Liner
• Make Up Forever Smoky Extravagant Mascara

Face:

• MAC Face and Body in N1
• Laura Mercier Secret Concealer in 1
• MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural in Light
• Tarte Exposed

Lips:

• Benefit Rocketpop

I primed my eyes and applied Mockingjay, a bronzey gold, all over my lid flaring it out at the outer corners. I blended out the edges with a clean brush. I put the tiny bit leftover on my brush on my lower lashline as well. Then I applied I Call It Mr. Pointy, a matte burgundy, to the outer corners, over the gold, and blended it inwards along the crease and down towards the lash line. I applied black winged liner and mascara and did my face like usual. I used cinnamon colored blush and lipstick to finish it off.

I really like this. I keep thinking the colors are Buffy and Katniss themed, but I Call It Mr. Pointy is actually a reference to Kendra, the other slayer, and her lucky stake. Nonetheless, it’s fun to use shadows named after kickass heroines. It’s a really autumnal look that I might pull out again when fall gets here!

 

FOTD: African Pygmy Kingfisher

The next predatory animal my husband choose for my animal series is the African Pygmy Kingfisher. It’s so tiny and cute and adorable it’s hard to believe it’s a predator. It’s also super colorful, so this look was a lot of fun.

I was definitely surprised at how wearable this wound up, given the colors of the bird.

 I probably wouldn’t have chosen orange, purple and blue together without the inspiration, but I like it! I definitely see myself doing more bird-inspired looks in the future.

Eyes:

• Shiro Team Rocket
• Hello Waffle Mad
• Hello Waffle Golden Stairs
• Urban Decay 24/7 Liner in Ultraviolet
• NYX Milk
• Benefit They’re Real Mascara

Face:

• MAC Face and Body in N1
• Laura Mercier Secret Concealer in 1
• MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural in Light
• Shiro 1-Up (I think. I forgot to write it down.)

Lips:

• Shiro Come Out, Come Out

I started by covering my entire eye area with NYX Milk pencil and blending it out with my finger. Then I applied Mad, a light yellowy orange, to my mobile lid. I used a tiny brush to carefully apply a thin layer of Team Rocket, a bright pink-toned purple, to the outer part of my crease. I blended carefully. Then I highlighted my inner corner with Golden Stairs, a peachy gold shade. I lined my upper lashes heavily with Ultraviolet pencil liner, a super bright shimmery blue. I lined my lower waterline as well, stopping before my tear duct. I curled my lashes and applied mascara. I did my face like usual, with a peachy blush and a light orange tinted balm.

I was honestly surprised at how well this turned out. The lid colors were lighter than I expect them to be, but that actually helped balance out the super bright liner. Plus now I know a type of super cute bird I’d never heard of before! Have you ever done bird-inspired make up? What’s your favorite bird?

FOTD: Shiro’s Rebellion as Liner and Cream Blush

Once again, I’m publishing things out of order, but this was actually my first time ever using cream blush. I’d gotten a palette of Stila’s Convertible Color cream blushes as a gift with purchase a while back, but I’d never actually tried putting them on my cheeks. So in the interest of not keeping things I don’t use, I decided to try it. And it turns out I really like it, and can definitely see myself using more cream blushes in the future!

Stila says the convertible colors are for both cheeks and lips, but I put this on my lips and it looked terrible (far too strong of a white base), so I removed it and replaced it with a baby pink lipstick.

Eyes:

• Shiro Rebellion
• Darling Girl Superstar Serum
• Buxom Lash Mascara

Face:

• MAC Face and Body in N1
• Laura Mercier Secret Concealer in 1
• MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural in Light
• Stila Convertible Color in Gerbera

Lips:

• Bare Minerals Speak Your Mind

This look was super simple. I mixed Rebellion, a navy shadow, with Superstar Serum and applied it as winged liner. I applied mascara and did my face make up like usual. Then I lightly dabbed my stippling brush into the pan of cream blush. I tested it on my hand, then lightly dabbed it onto my cheeks. I used my fingers to blend it out. Then I finished with pink lipstick.

I was surprised how easy it was to get a natural look with cream blush! I’m definitely going to play with the other colors in the palette. I think some of the others might look decent on the lips as well.

FOTD: Neutral Eyes and Pygmy Hippo Lips

I finally have a haul! Which means new things to play with! While I have about a billion new eyeshadow samples, I’m most excited to have my Lip Lustre minis. So far my only indie lip colors have been my Shiro tinted balms, so it’s great to finally have something more pigmented to play with. So I’ve been using them all week. I paired the first few with My Pretty Zombie’s WTF shadows, and the neutral eyes make the lip colors shine. This was my favorite look from that post, so it gets its own!

The eyeshadows are from My Pretty Zombie and I love them!

Eyes:

• My Pretty Zombie W
• My Pretty Zombie T
• My Pretty Zombie F
• Stila Stay All Day Liquid Liner in Black
• Urban Decay Primer Potion in Anti-Aging
• Maybelline Great Lash

Face:

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

Lips:

• Fyrinnae Lip Lustre in Pygmy Hippo

I primed my eyes and then swept T, a neutral taupe/tan, across the lid. I worked F, a shimmery grey, into my crease. I used W, a shimmery white, as my highlight shade in the inner corners. I did my face make up as usual and used a berry blush. I applied Pygmy Hipp, a mauvey lip lustre, to my lips with the doefoot applicator. I used the point to define the outline of my lips and the side to fill them in, which worked pretty well. I also made sure there wasn’t too much product on the applicator first.

I was really excited to finally try the lip lustres. The colors are corgeous, they’re super pigmented and while the application takes some figuring out, I think I’ve got it down. They also fade beautifully and evenly, and still looked good after a meal. Pygmy Hippo is one of those colors you hear about all the time, and I was happy to try it out. It wound up being a bit darker and more purpley on me than I’d expected, but I really like it.

Do you have any of Fyrinnae’s lip lustres? Which color’s your favorite? Any tips on how to apply them?

My Pretty Zombie WTF Collection: Looks

W (Wednesday), T (Thursday), F (Friday)

Yesterday I posted my swatches of the WTF collection from My Pretty Zombie, so today it’s time for the looks. It’s a tiny little collection, but the colors work really well together, so I did three looks, with each shadow getting to be the centerpiece for one of them. Since using the same shadows is a little bit repetitive I tried out my new Fyrinnae lip lustres as well.

Look 1: W, T and F, with Glamorous Rebel Lip Lustre

For my W look, I primed my eyes and then swept W across my lid. I worked T into the crease. Then I used a liner brush to apply F to my upper and lower lashlines. I finished with a bit of mascara and used Glamorous Rebel, a blue based red, on my lips. (Excuse the smudginess. It was my first time trying the lip lustres and I hadn’t mastered the application yet.)

Look 2: T, F and W with Pygmy Hippo Lip Lustre

For my T look, I applied T across my primed lids. I put F in the crease and blended. Then I used W as a subtle highlight underneath my browbone and in my inner corner. I applied black winged liner and mascara and finished with Pygmy Hippo lip lustre, a pretty mauve.

Look 3: F and T with Ocelot Lip Lustre

For the Friday-inspired look, I wanted something with a bit more oomph, so I patted Pixie Epoxy all over my primed lids and applied F on top. I put some along my lower lashline as well. I blended out the edge with T. Then I lined my upper and lower lashes, including my waterlines, with black pencil liner and smudged it out with a brush. I finished the look with black mascara and Ocelot, a light pink lip lustre.

Three different neutral looks, using the WTF shadows in different combinations. These colors lend themselves really well to more low key daytime looks, but if you bring out a sticky base, you can do something more dramatic as well. Which look is your favorite? I’m partial to the second one, the T look, myself. I think this placement works really nicely to make my eyes look more defined while still being work-appropriate and not too flashy. (If I could wear make up to work, I would definitely do this type of look a lot.)

My Pretty Zombie WTF Collection: Swatches

Today I’m reviewing the WTF collection, a little trio of neutrals from My Pretty Zombie. The story behind the trio is really cute, so I’m going to quote it from her site:

So my dear sweet innocent mom thought WTF meant “Wednesday Thursday Friday.” In honor of how awesomely cute that is, I created this set of neutrals. Perfect for your mom (who probably thinks the same thing) or any other sweet non eff word dropping lady in your life!

I love this! She also gives her mom 10% of the proceeds from this color, as payment for “teasing” her. Which is exactly the type of thing my mom would do too. Plus, the colors are super easily wearable and work really well together. I’m really happy with this little set.

Swatches! Urban Decay Anti-Aging Primer Potion on the top/left and Pixie Epoxy on the bottom/right. The top pictures are in indirect natural light and the bottom ones are in direct sun for the sparkle.

W, T, F or Wednesday, Thursday, Friday.

W (Wednesday): “The lighter version [of Thursday].” This is a sparkly, creamy white shade. This is a slightly mettalic creamy white. Depending on the lighting the sheen shifts from silvery grey to white gold. It’s slightly sheer over primer, and on bare skin it’s a delicate wash of sparkle. It would make a great highlight and is very brightening when used over the whole lid.

T (Thursday): “A warm brown.” This is a coppery brown with a good sheen to it. It makes a great blending color. It didn’t show up much in my pictures, but in person there’s a slight greyish sparkle that makes it fit really well with the other two colors in the collection.

F (Friday): “The darkest shade.” While it’s true that it’s the darkest shade in the set, it’s not the most helpful description. It’s a taupey silver that’s not too dark. It makes a great liner and also works well as a smoky eye.

Overall Thoughts: My Pretty Zombie seems to be better known for bolder colors, but these neutrals are great! It’s an incredibly cohesive collection of basics that work together really well. The colors are slightly sheerer and less metallic over primer than over a sticky base, but I think that actually works in their favor for creating toned-down work appropriate looks. I’m actually considering picking these up in full sizes, which I almost never do, because they’re just such useful colors. (Also, while they’re only listed on her site as a set, if you only want one, you can buy them individually as well. Just use the I just want one listing.)

Tomorrow I’ll be posting the looks. Just three instead of my usual five, since it’s such a little collection, but each shadow gets to be the centerpiece of its own look. It was really cool trying out different ways of combining the three colors.