nars

Daily Makeup #2: Naked Palette Attempt #3

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FACE: Nars Sheer Glow Foundation in Montblanc, Make Up For Ever 5 Concealer Cream Palette in 1, NYC Smooth Skin Bronzer in Sunny, Physician’s Formula Happy Booster Blush in Rose, MAC Mineralize Skinfinish in Semi-Precious Pearl

EYES: NYX HD Eyeshadow Base, Maybelline Color Tattoo in Bad to the Bronze, Urban Decay Naked Palette, MAC Mineralize Skinfinish in Semi-Precious Pearl, Lancome Le Crayon Khol in Black Ebony, L’Oreal Voluminous Mascara, Maybelline The Falsies Mascara, Revlon Brow Fantasy in Brunette

LIPS: EOS Peach lip balm, Revlon Lip Butter in Juicy Papaya

There’s something about a subtle(r) smoky eye that works in this late autumn time of year (it feels like winter here in Canada so I cannot bring myself to call it Fall). Sometimes you want to get all into the spirit of the season without wearing the high(er)-maintenance bold lip and this is when I favor the flattering slightly-messy daytime smoky eye.

From the stress of the impending doom otherwise known as finals and the great lack of sleep I’ve been getting I presume, my skin decided to go on protest and I woke up this morning with a big, painful underneath-the-skin blemish that’s impossible to cover along with the usual blemishes, bumps and general dehydration issues.

As per usual (even more-so this time of year) I slathered on some moisturizer immediately before starting the face in the hope of a glow – my current pick is Kiehl’s Skin Rescuer. When I woke up this morning three words were on my tongue “Nars Sheer Glow” and true to my word I used my sample from Sephora that I haven’t used in ages as it has been too pale but I’m back to my natural fair state so it worked. This foundation sort of reminds me of Rimmel Wake Me Up but with a tad more coverage and no shimmer and I really wish I bought this instead of Diorskin Nude. Alas… It gave my skin that glow while still providing very good coverage (with the aid of some heavy-duty concealer on the hideous zit painful spot) without looking ridiculous. I’m resisting the urge to run to Sephora and purchase it right now – but honestly it’s high on my mental wishlist.

Apparently subconsciously I was determined to use the Naked Palette in an everyday sort of way without using my favourite highlight/lid shade Sin so my brain in its typically irrational sense used another shade in the same vein as Sin to use in its place so every eyeshadow look I post did not include that one shade — I used the pale golden champagne outer-ring of the limited-edition and no longer available MAC Mineralize Skinfinish in Semi-Precious Pearl (but in all honesty most MSFs are rather similar) on the inner-third of my lid. The warm medium-toned reddy bronze Toasted went on the rest of the lid and was blended into the crease and then Hustle was blended into the outer v and Creep was blended slightly into the lashes. The result was that sort of hazy and warm smoky eye that wasn’t too attention grabbing.

I was determined to use a strictly non-Autumnal lipstick so I went for the easy and somewhat unseasonal Revlon Juicy Papaya Lip Butter and I was feeling bored with my blush choices so I pulled out the forgotten-about Physician’s Formula Rose Happy Booster – great rosy shade but the colour has to be built up and the longevity leaves some to be desired.

What are your thoughts on my weekly (or more often than that) face posts? What have you been reaching for lately?

October Beauty Favourites

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October ended up being even crazier than September. I’ve been exhausted, the weather has cooled dramatically and school has been insane with midterms, papers and all. This month I began to experience the wonderful phenomenon that is my skin’s response to the cooler season (itchiness, redness, skin burning and dehydration) and learned to adapt my makeup routine to make it as quick as possible – you know the grab and go routine where you have two minutes until you’re out the door and look terrible? In light of this, my favourites became fairly apparent this month.

Kiehl’s Skin Rescuer Daily Hydrator

I just talked about this in my fall skincare edit (here) for good reason. I am one of those people that suffer from serious dehydration and sensitivity the moment the weather begins to get colder and this moisturizer has really impressed me as compensation for this. i really appreciate that the moisturizer is lightweight and fast-absorbing while still being incredibly rich and soothing.

Nars Orgasm Powder Blush

For some reason, this hyped-up shade is one I find myself reaching for much more frequently in the cooler months. It gives a flattering, brightening glow to the cheeks, I’d say. I do have to mention that it’s not super unique but I have been loving this warm pink-coral blush with golden shimmer.

Dior Miss Dior Fragrance

I’ve never really been a perfume but lately I’ve really been getting into using this one. I adore that it’s sophisticated while still being young, subtle and not the sweetest in the least. It is fresh with a hint of woodsiness to it but don’t take my description here as fact because I am not talented at describing scents. I’m working my way through my sample from Sephora and am seriously debating purchasing it full-sized.

MAC Patisserie Lipstick

This is the first Lustre I’ve purchased from MAC and i quite like the formula – moisturizing, medium pigmented and has a nice sheen. This shade is a warm-toned pinky-brown wearable nude and it wears for a few hours and doesn’t emphasize dry patches on the lips.

Bourjois 10 Hr Sleep Effect Foundation

As I mentioned in my review, (link here) I picked up this foundation in the third shade which is 73, a nicely neutral fair-ish shade. I find that with a pump of product this offers slightly more coverage than light but not quite medium. This foundation emphasizes dry patches less than any other foundation I’ve tried (although severe ones will still be noticable) and offers a natural-looking dewy skin finish and decently-good longevity. I think this foundation is rather under-hyped.

Urban Decay Naked Palette

I’ve definitely mentioned the complexity of my thoughts on this palette before and recently put up a review (link here! but I can honestly say I’ve really made use of (and enjoyed) using this palette this month. Although these shades are obviously rather warm toned and shimmery it’s made it’s way into the staples pile. I like how it contains every single basic shade I need for a look. Sin is a gorgeous subtle lid shade, buck and naked are great for filling in my brows or in the crease, creep is great for subtle lining and darkhorse and hustle are great for the outer v! I like more but those are my absolute picks and they create the quick no-fuss and flattering defined eye.

NYC Smooth Skin Bronzer in Sunny

I’m not exactly sure how this purchase happened, well sort of. Like many other brands of the more affordable variety, NYC is difficult to find in Canada and when I ventured into Walmart (which I rarely do), I couldn’t resist picking this up. It’s a pigmented matte light-medium warm toned bronzer that doesn’t lean particularly orange and I’ve been reaching for this most days. I like that its dark enough and has the right type of colour to add both a bit of warmth and can help to shape the face.

Thoughts?

FOTD- Day to Night with Urban Decay Naked Palette

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products used

In the last few weeks I’ve been trying to be creative and make more use of my neglected Naked palette. The thing is I tend to find the palette too shimmery and too warm to be a palette to use for a bunch of different whole looks but I’ve been managing to create a few that I’ve liked. This one has by far been my favourite as I think it’s really pretty without being overdone, defined and versatile. This is the kind of makeup that I find suits casual days to going-out nights. It’s nothing spectacular, I just thought that I would share! 🙂

The look :)
The look 🙂
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my lip colour is off … whoops 🙂

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If you don’t have the colours I have, I’ll try to give some alternatives at the end; there’s nothing I hate more than a look I like but own none of the colours for.

Eyes:

1. I primed my eyes with Primer Potion and then I used the brush that comes in the Naked Palette to pat a good amount of Sin on the inner half of the lid and Toasted on the outer half and then blended the edges together.

2. So I sort of cheated a little – I used one shadow not in the Naked Palette. I used the darker shade of Nars Kalahari (the right side) in the crease with a fluffy blending brush.

3. I filled in my brows lightly with Buck on an angled brush.

5. I applied Hustle into the outer-v and then blended outwards with my MAC 239.

6. Using my angled liner brush again, I applied Hustle underneath my eye in the outer corner.

7. I lined my upper lashes with same brush using Darkhouse and smudged it. I also applied some on my MAC 239 brush and used it to darken the outer v.

8. I highlighted the browbone and brightened the inner corner with Virgin.

9. I used L’Oreal Voluminous mascara on my upper lashes.

I’m sorry but I maybe sort of used the same cheek and lip products as in the other look … but at least its proof of their excellence? 🙂

10. I used Rimmel Wake Me Up in 100 for my foundation which I really like the colour match for my skin, the glow it provides, its lasting power and that it’s not too noticeable.

11. I put the second-lightest colour of Make Up For Ever 5 Concealer Cream Palette – my shade is 1- underneath my eyes and onto rather pronounced blemishes.

12. I used Rimmel Natural Glow Bronzer in 021 on my cheekbones, forhead, temples, nose and blended it into my neck to bronze my face up slightly with a large blush brush.

13. I placed MAC Stereo Rose MSF on my cheeks with the same brush, blending it into the bronzer. I know this is LE, but I’ll talk about other options below 🙂

14. I put the tiniest bit of Benefit’s Girl Meets Pearl highlighter on the tops of my cheekbones.

15. With my finger, I dabbed some Bobbi Brown Rose Pot Rouge onto my lips.

This sounds long but it wasn’t and was rather quick and easy!

Alternative List

UD Sin – MAC Naked Lunch, MAC All That Glitters for darker skintones

UD Virgin – MAC Shroom, MAC Dazzlelight is a golden alternative

UD Toasted – MAC Sable is slightly darker, MAC All That Glitters is slightly lighter

Nars Kalahari (Darker Shade)  – I can’t think of anything extremely similar but UD Buck could be used in its place (if you’re warmer), MAC Charcoal Brown or Espresso – these are both matte although Kalahari has a sheen

UD Hustle – MAC Satin Taupe is similar

UD Darkhorse – Any brown darker than Hustle would work, I’ve heard Nars Cordura is similar, MAC Handwritten is similar without the shimmer but ever-so-slightly warmer, MAC Embark and Smut are also similar and they have some sheen to them

MAC Stereo Rose – MAC Springsheen is peachier, MAC Orgasm is pinker and lighter (without the bronze-ness) and Milani Coralina is slightly pinker and Rose d’Oro slightly more orange-leaning coral

Any thoughts? 🙂