FOTD: Coral and Green

I never would have thought to put coral and green together in an eye look, but it’s the theme for a new subreddit I joined, and they looked really nice together, so I thought I’d give it a go. Guess what? They look really nice together on my face too. Guess what else? I’m an enormous dork sometimes.

I really, really like this look though.

Eyes:

• Baroque Walking on Air
• Shiro Gelato Beach (blush)
• Urban Decay 24/7 Liner in Mars
• Benefit Stay Don’t Stray in Light/Medium
• Buxom Lash Mascara

Face:

• Lancome Teint Miracle in Buff 4C
• Benefit Boi-ing in 1
• Laura Mercier Secret Concealer in 1
• Blackbird Magic Trick Super Powder in Translucent
• Shiro 1-Up

Lips:

• Life’s Entropy Apoptosis

First I primed my eyelids. Then I patted Walking on Air, a light pinky orange, all over my mobile lids. I used a different brush to deepen the outer corners with Gelato Beach, a bright coral pink eye-safe blush. Then I lined all the way around my eyes with a shimmery dark green liner, including my waterlines. I used a smudge brush to smudge out the liner, working it up into my crease at the outer corners. The end of the green was a bit abrupt and I had too much liner on my smudge brush, so I went over the end of the green with the eyeshadow brush I’d used for the orange. I mascaraed my lashes, and applied foundation, a double whammy of concealer and setting powder. I used a light coral pink blush and filled in my lips with a bright orangey pink lip theory using a brush. I didn’t want the color to be as intense as possible, so I applied it in a very thin layer.

Have you ever seen a color pairing somewhere and thought “hey, those look nice? let me put it on my face!” or is that just me? What’s the most unexpected color pairing you’ve tried? Did it work out?

Comparison: Gold Eyeshadows

DMM Aries, Shiro Perfect World, HW Tchaikovsky, Shiro Remake, Baroque Versailles / AFK Solar Flare, HW 1000 Likes, HW Amber, Shiro Mockingjay, Corvus Clio

Recently I wanted to find a dupe for Shiro’s Perfect World, my favorite gold eyeshadow, which is now sadly discontinued. I asked for suggestions on Indie Makeup and More, and realized I already had a couple of the suggested colors in my stash. I wound up pulling out all my metallic golds and decided to swatch them all to compare. (I skipped my peachy golds and yellow based golds, since that wasn’t what I was looking for.) I figured it might be useful to someone else who was also looking for a specific kind of gold.

All shadows are swatched over Urban Decay Primer Potion on the top/left and Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy on the bottom/right. The top picture was taken in indoor natural light and the bottom in direct sun, for maximum sparkle.

Dark Matter Makeup Aries, Shiro Perfect World, Shiro Remake, Baroque Versailles, AFK Solar Flare

Hello Waffle Amber, Hello Waffle Tchaikovsky, Hello Waffle 1000 Likes, Corvus Clio, Shiro Mockingjay

Dark Matter Makeup Aries: “A light metallic gold with gold sparks. It also has an orange highlight that makes the color shift from a light to a more orange gold.” This is a pale sparkly light gold. Over primer it’s a little sheer. There’s a slight cool grey undertone to it in some lights. I don’t get the orange shift at all. If you’re looking for a sparkly gold, this is the one with the most sparkle out of the ten. (Previously reviewed here.)

Shiro Perfect World: “Pure, soft, slightly metallic gold.” This is my personal favorite gold. It’s description is spot on. It’s a neutral gold without noticeable undertones, and it’s very smooth and metallic. It doesn’t have any sparks. I’m super sad that Shiro discontinued it, since it’s great with my light skintone.

Hello Waffle Tchaikovsky: “Vibrant gold with red, silver, and blue sparks.” This is a neutral-toned gold, with a smooth metallic finish and noticeable sparkles. The sparkles mostly struck me as silver and blue. I didn’t really see red. Over Pixie Eposy it’s more densely metallic, but it looks nice over primer too. (Previously reviewed here.)

Shiro Remake: “Shimmery gold-bronze with purple sparks.” This is a slightly warm, very metallic gold. When I reviewed it before I didn’t notice the sparks, but this time, with more experience looking at eyeshadow nuances, I definitely did, The strike me as bluey purple and are very pretty. (Previously reviewed here.)

Baroque Versailles: “Antiqued molten gold.” This is a gold with a bit of a greenish tint to it, which makes it look antique. (The pictures pulled a little warm, but the green twinge is definitely noticeable in person. You can see the difference between it and the warmer golds in the shot of all them together at the beginning of the post.) It has a very smooth metallic finish, and a hint of silvery sparks. The antique greenish quality makes it distinctive in my collection.

AFK Solar Flare: “A bright and sunny gold with a metallic finish.” This is an orangey yellow gold, with less sparkle to it than most of the other golds I swatched. It’s like a mildly metallic goldenrod. Over primer it’s a little sheer, so it can come across as more yellow on the eyes if you don’t use a sticky base.

Hello Waffle 1000 Likes: “Dark gold shimmer.” This is a very warm orangey gold. It darkens as it gets more opaque and metallic on a sticky base. Over primer alone, it’s sheerer and lighter. The lumps you see in the swatch are 100% my fault for not waiting long enough for the Pixie Epoxy to dry. Last time I swatched it it didn’t have that problem at all, as you can see in this swatch. If you wait for your base to dry like a smart person, it applies very smoothly. (Previously reviewed here.)

Hello Waffle Amber: “Dark orange-gold shimmer.” This is a very warm gold, enough to make it look almost like a rose gold or a pale copper instead of a pure gold. It’s very smooth. Over primer it’s a little sheer, but on a sticky base it takes on a nice metallic sheen.

Shiro Mockingjay: “Metallic brown-copper-bronze.” So this one is more copper than gold (and as you can see, Shiro doesn’t even call it a gold), but in direct sun the shimmer takes on a bit of a yellow gold quality. In indoor light it looks like a shiny new penny. (Previously reviewed here.)

Corvus Clio: “A slightly blackened molten gold with a metallic finish.” This is the darkest of my golds. It’s also the least shiny. Over primer it’s more of a tan brown with a hint of gold, but it’s almost matte. On a sticky base, there’s more of a sheen, but it’s still the least metallic of all the golds I swatched. Its darkness makes it excellent as a liner. (Previously reviewed here.)

So there you are! Ten of my golds swatched side by side. Hopefully this was helpful to someone else. If you’re interested in me adding in my more yellow or peachy golds, let me know and I can look into updating the post. If, like me, you were looking for a dupe for Perfect World, Hello Waffle Tchaikovsky or Dark Matter Makeup Aries are the closest that I have. Tchaikovsky looks closer to me over primer, but Aries is closest over Pixie Epoxy. Both of them are more sparkly than Perfect World, but it’s more noticeable with Aries. So if I had to choose one, I would go with Tchaikovsky.

How often do you wear gold eyeshadow? If you want some ideas on how I use it, all my posts tagged with gold are here.

Also, I finally got around to making a swatch gallery. It’s in the menu at the left and it has all my swatches sorted by brand. So hopefully that’s helpful to you!

FOTD: Gold Eyes and Bright Red Lips

Red lips + black glasses = win. I almost never wear my black glasses (they’re my “special occasion” glasses and I don’t want to scratch them up too much), but one of the times I’m most likely to pull them out is when I’m wearing red lipstick. It’s a classic combo and I love it.

I also wore gold eyeshadow! I’ve got a gold eyeshadow comparison post in the works, and having all my golds out made me want to put them on my eyes.

Eyes:

• Shiro Perfect World
• Baroque Versailles
• Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy
• Marc Jacobs Highliner in Blacquer
• Benefit Stay Don’t Stray in Light/Medium
• Sephora Collection Outrageous Curl Mascara

Face:

• MAC Mineralize Moisture Foundation in NC20
• Benefit Boi-ing Concealer in 1
• Laura Mercier Secret Concealer in 1
• MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural in Light
• Shiro 1-Up

Lips:

• Life’s Entropy Recursion

I primed my lids and patted on Pixie Epoxy and waited for it to set. 20 seconds latter I applied Perfect World, a light gold, all over the top with a fluffy brush. I used a rounded blending brush to put Versailles, a darker gold, in the outer half of my crease. I lined my eyes with black liner, curled my lashes and applied mascara. I did pretty standard face stuff and finished off with Recursion, a bright red with a hint of orange, which I applied with a lip brush.

I really like Life’s Entropy’s lip theories. They’re smooth and super pigmented. My lips have been kind of dry lately, but I feel like it still looks good. It doesn’t cling too much to my dry patches. I lined up my samples this morning and let my husband pick which one I wore. Recursion is a super bright, almost neon red, but I still find it flattering. It’s being discontinued soon, so if you’re interested in it, you should probably pick it up now!

FOTD: Low Key Pink and Grey Look

I love pink and grey together. The pairing feels soft and subtle, but still feminine. I like it. Although, to be honest I was expecting it to be more of a lavender and grey look, since that’s what Catticus Finch looked like in the bag and I hadn’t used or swatched it yet. But when it turned out to be pink, I went pink with the rest of my face too!

Snapdragon and Mucha Ado About Nothing are both colors that go with pretty much everything. But they really go with Catticus Finch.

Eyes:

• Hello Waffle Catticus Finch
• Hello Waffle Purrian Gray
• Urban Decay 24/7 Liner in Uzi
• Benefit Stay Don’t Stray in Light/Medium
• Make Up Forever Smoky Extravagant Mascara

Face:

• MAC Face and Body in N1
• Benefit Boi-ing Concealer in 1
• Laura Mercier Secret Concealer in 1
• MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural in Light
• Baroque Mucha Ado About Nothing

Lips:

• Kae Q Snapdragon

I primed my lids and patted Purian Gray, a sparkly almost-white light grey, all over my lids. I used a fluffy angled brush to work Catticus Finch, which I thought would be lavender but was actually mauvey pink, through the entire crease. I swiped the extra across my lower lashline. I used a blending brush to blend out the upper edge of my shadow. I lined my eyes with a shimmery dark grey liner and curled my lashes. I did my usual face stuff and used Mucha Ado About Nothing, a rosy blush that goes with everything, on my cheeks. I applied Snapdragon, a lovely MLBB pink, with a doefoot applicator.

Not much to say about this look. Simple and pretty.

Tutorial: Subtle Grey and Red Look with Purple Liner

I was talking to some of my friends in one of my reddit groups recently and they mentioned that they would like to see more tutorials. So I’m planning on doing tutorials for my favorite looks from my reviews. No time like the present to start, so I picked my favorite look from my Brilliant Deductions review to get started!

Make Up:

• Grey Eyeshadow (Aromaleigh Frailty of Genius)
• Burgundy Eyeshadow (Aromaleigh Damaged & Delusional)
• Dark Plum Eyeshadow (Aromaleigh Glittering Career)
• Foiling Medium (Darling Girl Superstar Serum)
• Eyeshadow Primer (Urban Decay Primer Potion)
• Mascara (Make Up Forever Smoky Extravagant Mascara)
• Rosy Blush (Baroque Mucha Ado About Nothing)
• Burgundy Lipstick (Tilt/Shift Gravity)
• Foundation/Concealer/Powder or whatever your usual face routine is (MAC Face and Body in N1, Benefit Boi-ing in 1, Laura Mercier Secret Concealer in 1, MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural in Light)

Brushes and Tools:

• Eyeshadow shading brush (Sigma E55)
• Fluffy angled eyeshadow brush (Sigma E70)
• Fluffy blending brush (Sigma E40)
• Eyeliner brush (mini Sigma E05)
• 1 or 2 Blush brushes (Nars travel blush brush, Eco Tools blush brush)
• Lip brush (Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics)
• Whatever you usually use to apply your foundation, concealer and powder (Real Techniques Buffing Brush, Real Techniques Deluxe Crease Brush, MAC 159)
• A flat non-porous mixing surface (a piece of mirror)
• An eyelash curler if you use one (NYC eyelash curler)

For this look you’ll need a grey eyeshadow, a burgundy or dark red eyeshadow and a dark plum eyeshadow. I used Aromaleigh shadows for this, but you could definitely substitute, you just want them to be similarly warm or cool toned (so if you use a cool-toned grey, it would probably work best to use a cool red and purple to go with it). If you have Shiro’s Scarlet Witch COTM, I think it would be perfect for this look. I used Darling Girl’s Superstar Serum as a foiling medium to turn the purple eyeshadow into liner, but you could use contact lens solution, eye drops or just plain water if you don’t have something similar. You could even use purple pencil liner instead of making your own, if you have it! For the lip color, anything dark red should work. I think Kae Q’s Mulberry would be a great alternative. And choose a blush that works for your skintone. Blush is just a minor player in this look, so it shouldn’t be too noticeable.

I started with clean, moisturized skin. I put a tiny dot of eyeshadow primer on my finger and smoothed it over my eyelid, and repeated on the other side.

Next I patted my grey eyeshadow all over my mobile lid with a basic shading brush. It doesn’t matter if the top edge is messy, because we’ll blend that away later, but do try to get an even coat of color on the lid.

I picked up a tiny bit of red eyeshadow with a fluffy angled brush. To make sure I didn’t pick up too much I just touched my brush lightly to the powder that was stuck on the sides of my sample bag, avoiding the pile of shadow at the bottom entirely. I used a very light tapping motion to place the red shadow in the outer portion of my crease. I also angled my brush to connect the line of red with my outer corner.

Time to blend! I used my clean fluffy blending brush to make little circles at the outer corner of my eye without picking up my brush. Then I used my brush to diffuse the top edge of the shadow with a windshield wiper motion. I blended until the red was pretty subtle.

Next I mixed together my purple shadow with Superstar Serum to make liner. I tapped out a little bit of shadow onto a flat piece of mirror and dotted one drop of serum next to it. Then I dipped my liner brush into the serum and used it to push the eyeshadow together into a paste. I added a little bit more shadow to get the consistency you see in the last picture.

Next I applied the mixture as liner. I did my upper lashline first, and then used what was left on the brush to get a lighter line under my lower lashes. I curled my lashes and applied mascara to both my upper and lower lashes.

Now it’s time to do whatever your usual base makeup routine is. You can see my foundation routine here, if you’re interested. If the red eyeshadow is too far down at the outer corner of your eye, you can either remove it or cover it up with a pat of concealer like I did.

If you’re using loose blush in a sample bag, you can tap it out on to the clean side of your mirror or mixing surface. I’m pretty light so I only need the tiniest bit of blush.

Oftentimes when I’m using indie blush I wind up applying a little bit more than I need. When I do this I take a clean blush brush and use it to blend out the blush using a circular motion to make the color less intense. The difference is subtle on camera, but in person I can see it.

Last comes lipstick. Since I’m using a sample I need a lip brush to apply it. When I use a lip brush I outline my lips first, then put a little bit more lipstick on my brush to fill in the middle.

So that’s my look! I think it’s simple and I love how the grey balanced out the red and makes it more toned down and wearable. Combined with the the lip color, this look makes me feel really classy.

I’d love to hear how it works for you if you try it out. I like the idea of continuing to do tutorials for my favorite looks from my reviews, so keep an eye out for more in the future. If there’s a look I’ve done on the blog before that you’d like to see a tutorial for, you can request one in the comments too!

FOTD: Password Protected Smoky Eye

I was in the mood for a pixie epoxy smoky eye a while back, since it had been a while since I’d done one, and another user posted a really pretty look using Aromaleigh’s Password Protected over on r/indiemakeupandmore, so I decided to combine the two of them. I’ve had this post sitting in my drafts folder for a while, but I’m working on finally finishing up my enormous Brilliant Deductions review (21 shadows. Craziness.) so I figured I’d post this now as a sort of preview.

 For a look that is in theory purple, this wound up looking surprisingly neutral. I still like it though.

Eyes:

• Aromaleigh Password Protected
• Aromaleigh Psychosomatic Limp
• Urban Decay 24/7 Liner in Tornado
• 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
• Stila All Over Shimmer Liquid Luminizer in Rose Gold
• Baroque Sonrel Not Sonrel

Lips:

• Marc Jacobs Lip Lacquer in Kissability

I did my usual pixie epoxy smoky eye here. I applied primer then patted pixie epoxy onto my mobile lid using my pinky. After it set, I patted Password Protected, a purple with a strong gold sheen, on top. I swiped what was left on my blush through my crease and below my lower lashes. Then I picked up a little Psychosomatic Limp, a light golden brown, with a blending brush and used it to blend out my crease. I put a little of it below my lower lashes to deepen the color there as well. Then I applied a purple pencil liner and smudged it out with a smudge brush. I finished my eyes with a coat of mascara. I did my usual face stuff and highlight my cheeks with a rose gold liquid highlighter. I also applied a plummy blush and a plum lipgloss with a bit of gold sparkle.

I like this look quite a bit. It’s very wearable way to do purple, and I think the gold looks really nice with my eyes.

FOTD: Glamorous Red and Sparkly Taupe

Over on r/makeuprehab, they’re doing a lip dare, which means using a different lip product every day for the rest of the month. It sounded like a fun challenge, so I decided to join in. While I use a pretty good rotation of lip colors, it seemed like a good way to encourage myself to give some love to my lesser used lip colors. So in that spirit, today I’m wearing a blue-based red, which I think is pretty, but don’t wear often.

I paired it with a simple sparkly taupe eye, to keep the focus solidly on the lips.

Eyes:

• Darling Girl Jeweled Taupe
• Blackbird Atlas
• Urban Decay 24/7 Liner in Crave
• Benefit Stay Don’t Stray in Light/Medium
• Make Up Forever Smoky Extravagant Mascara

Face:

• MAC Face and Body in N1
• Benefit Boi-ing Concealer in 1
• Laura Mercier Secret Concealer in 1
• MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural in Light
• Baroque Mucha Ado About Nothing

Lips:

• Fyrinnae Glamorous Rebel

I started by priming my lids (but with a different primer than usual). I then applied a wash of Jeweled Taupe, a sparkly light taupey tan, all over my lids. I applied Atlas, a matte brown, in the crease and below my lower lashes and blended it in a lot to soften the lines. I lined my eyes with a brown-black pencil liner and applied mascara. I did my usual face stuff, with a warm rosy blush. I finished with Glamorous Rebel, a blue toned red lip lustre, which I applied with the doefoot.

I think it’s worth noting that I don’t always put my looks up on the blog the same day I do them, so my blog posts might not reflect the lip dare perfectly. (For example, I technically started the dare yesterday with a post that’s going up later this week, since yesterday was the Planetary Challenge.) But I’m keeping track of what I use, and at the end of the Lip Dare challenge I’ll post a round up of all fifteen lip colors.

Baroque Always With Me Collection: Looks

Confetti Candy, Smells Like Human Spirit, Bathhouse, Boiler Room / Dragon, Ocean Railway, Herbal Bath Soak, Give Me Sen

Yesterday I posted my swatches of Baroque Cosmetics’s Always With Me Collection. Today I’ve got five looks using these shadows that I’m really excited to share with you. For the most part the looks are on the soft and subtle side.

Look 1: Confetti Candy and Smells Like Human Spirit For this, I primed my lids and then applied Confetti Candy to the inner half with a flat brush. I flipped it over and used the other side to apply Smells Like Human Spirit to the outer half, up slightly past the crease at the outer corner and overlapping a little bit in the middle. I blended the two together to get a smooth transition. I lined my upper and lower lashlines with a lot of black pencil liner and smudged it out with a brush. I smudged it out past the end of my eye in the outer corners. I mixed a tiny bit of Smells Like Human Spirit with Superstar Serum and used it to line my lower waterline. I finished the look with mascara. (Lips are a blend of Kae Q Sapodilla and Fyrinnae Meloncholy, a combo I absolutely love.)

Look 2: Ocean Railway and Herbal Bath Soak I primed my lids and applied Pixie Epoxy over the top. After it set I patted Ocean Railway on top of the Pixie Epoxy, concentrating more color close to my lashes and stopping before I got all the way to the crease. I used a swiping motion to fill in near my crease with less intense color. Then I picked up a little bit of Herbal Bath Soak with a round blending brush and used it to blend out the upper edge along my crease. I lined my upper lashes with thick black liquid liner and added a dramatic wing at the end. I curled and mascaraed my lashes and finished the look with a tiny bit of Ocean Railway applied to my lower waterline with a liner brush. (Lips are Kae Q Guava.)

Look 3: Bathhouse, Boiler Room and Confetti Candy After applying primer, I patted Bathhouse all over my lids, focusing the color most intensely on the inner part. Then I applied Boiler Room at the outer corner and fanned it up and out. I blended it down and in over the red at the outer corner as well. Then I put a little bit of it on a round blending brush and worked it into the crease, concentrating on the outer part. I used a fluffy brush to highlight under my browbone with a teensy bit of Confetti Candy. I added dark brown winged liquid liner to my upper lashline and lined my lower lashline with a golden brown glittery pencil liner. Then I deepened the outer third of my lower lashline with dark brown pencil liner. I finished with mascara. (Lips are Shiro’s Red Wedding.)

Look 4: Give Me Sen, Herbal Bath Soak, Dragon, Confetti Candy First I applied Give me Sen to the inner third of my already-primed eyelids. I rubbed my brush on a tissue and then used the same brush to apply a vertical stripe of Herbal Bath Soak down the middle of each eyelid. I cleaned off my brush once more and use it to apply Dragon to the outer third. I used a blending brush to very lightly blur the lines between the colors. Then I picked up some Herbal Bath Soak with a blending brush and applied it above my crease and along my lower lashline. I blended out the top edge. Then I used a tiny bit of Confetti Candy as a brow highlight. I lined my upper and lower lashes with a little black pencil liner and ended with mascara.

Look 5: Give Me Sen, Smells Like Human Spirit, Confetti Candy I started by priming my lids. Then I swept Confetti Candy all over to give a sheer wash of shimmer. I mixed Give Me Sen with Superstar Serum to make a paste and then applied it as winged liner. I also applied some along my lower lashes and connected the bottom line to my wing and filled in the triangle they made. I took my tiniest brush and applied Smells Like Human Spirit as an inner corner highlight. Both my upper and lower lashes got a coat of mascara. (Lips are Shiro’s It’s Called Love, which is also Spirited Away themed.)

So those are my five Always With Me looks. I had a ton of fun with this collection. I was really surprised by how much I liked Smells Like Human Spirit when used in actual looks. I think overall look number one was my favorite, and actually pretty different from my usual looks. If I’m ever in the mood for wham bam in your face blue sparkles though, look number 2 is where it’s at. What about you? Which look is your favorite?

Baroque Always With Me Collection: Swatches

Today I’m swatching the Always With Me collection from Baroque Cosmetics. The collection has eight colors based off of the film Spirited Away. I love Miyazaki and I feel like the shadows really capture the palette of the film. Very soft and pastel with a few fun pops of color. The formula on these is interesting. It’s sheerer than some other brands, especially over primer, but in a way that I find glowy and easy to blend.

Swatched over Urban Decay Primer Potion on the left/top and Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy on the right/bottom. The top picture in each collage was taken in indoor natural light and the bottom picture was taken in direct sun.

Always With Me Colors: Confetti Candy, Smells Like Human Spirit, Dragon, Ocean Railway, Herbal Bath Soak, Give Me Sen, Bathhouse, Boiler Room

Confetti Candy: “White with red, gold and green sparks!” This is a sheer white with a lot of multicolored sparkles. I don’t think it performs well over Pixie Epoxy. I had to use a lot of shadow to get it opaque, but it got a little bit cakey and the surface wasn’t very even. But it works well as a highlight color, so its sheerness works for that.

Give Me Sen!: “A dusty purple with a satin finish.” This is a light greyed purple. It’s got a satin sheen but no sparkle and was sheer over primer. Over Pixie Epoxy it becomes darker and more grey, but also applied a little bit patchily.

Ocean Railway: “A bright blue with green glitter.” This is a gorgeous sparkly turquoise blue. It’s sheer but full of sparkle over primer, but it really shines over Pixie Epoxy. On a sticky base it’s glorious and opaque and sparkly as fuck. I love it. If you need a knock out turquoise glitter shadow in your life, I highly recommend this one.

Herbal Bath Soak: “A medium tea green blue with a slight gold shimmer.” This is a slightly light blue with slight green and grey tones and a coppery gold sheen. It’s satiny though, without any actual sparkle. It’s pretty sheer over primer. Over a sticky base it’s darker, bluer and more opaque.

Dragon: “A minty green blue.” This is a lovely mint green with a satiny gold sheen. Like many of the colors in this collection, it’s sheer over primer and more opaque over a sticky base, but the color doesn’t really change much. There’s a tiny hint of sparkle.

Smells Like Human Spirit: “A lime green with red glitter.” This is a bright lime yellow-green with a lot of red-orange sparkles. It reminds me of the color of Nickelodeon slime, so I think of it as slime green in my head. The sheerness over primer makes it way more wearable than I would have anticipated, and it’s actually one of my favorite colors from this collection. It makes for a really interesting inner corner highlight.

Boiler Room: “A blackened bronze.” To me this is more of a straight ahead sparkly golden brown. It’s not terrible unique, but it’s nice. It’s more opaque over primer than the lighter shades in this collection. It looks very rich and takes on a touch of a blackened quality over a sticky base, with a strong gold sheen.Bathhouse: “A bright red with gold glitter.” This is a warm red with both a golden sheen and golden sparkle. It performs well over both bases. It’s glowier over primer and sparklier over Pixie Epoxy.

Overall Thoughts: Despite the sheerness, I really love this formula. It’s glowy and blendable and good if you want a less intense look. However, if what you’re looking for is full opacity, this might not be the right choice for you. I think the colors really match Miyazaki’s film well, complete with slightly muted quality and predominance of cool tones. All in all, I’m quite pleased.

I’m really glad the sun finally came out so I could swatch these! I finished my looks for this review ages ago and I’m looking forward to finally sharing them tomorrow!

The looks are up here.

FOTD: Lavender Lips

 There was a bright lips thread over at Indie Island of Misfits, so I decided to join in with today’s look. Usually when I think bright lips, I think bold reds, oranges and magentas, but I’ve gotten so much more comfortable wearing those that I decided to do something a little different and went with a bright lavender.

 The pastel base of this seemed very 60s to me, so I decided to do light eyeliner and mascara on my lower lashes ala Twiggy. Except less so, because I am not much of one for lower lash mascara.

Eyes:

• Shiro He Loves His Hammer
• Blackbird Smudge
• Hello Waffle Whale Hello There
• Stila Stay All Day Liquid Liner in Intense Black
• Urban Decay 24/7 Liner in Cuff
• Urban Decay Primer Potion
• Sephora Collection Outrageous Curl Mascara

Face:

• MAC Mineralize Moisture Foundation in NC20
• Benefit Boi-ing Concealer in 1
• Laura Mercier Secret Concealer in 1
• MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural in Light
• Shiro Potion
• Baroque Mucha Ado About Nothing

Lips:

• Kae Q Passionflower
• Firebird Strawberry Tangerine lip balm

I started by priming my lids as I always do. Then I patted He Loves His Hammer, a really interesting shimmery reddish pewter, all over my lids. I deepened my crease with Smudge, a matte grey. I put some beneath my lower lashes as well. I lined my upper lids with winged black liquid liner and my lower waterline with sparkly silver pencil liner. I mascaraed both my upper and lower lashes. I finished my eyes with a touch of Whale Hello There, a light cool purple, in the inner corners. I did my foundation, concealer and powder, and put on a layer of Potion, a berry blush. It seemed too cool with the rest of the look so I layered Mucha Ado About Nothing, a warmer rose, on top of it. I started my lips with a layer of my waxiest base lip balm and used a doefoot applicator to smooth a layer of Passionflower, a bright lavender, over the top.

I think this turned out kind of retro and fun. I was a little hesitant that Passionflower wouldn’t work on me, but I actually like it. It’s never going to be an all the time color for me, but I do think it’s fun.