More ColourPop Swatches

I got three more ColourPop Super Shock eyeshadows before my no-buy started. I think I am good for now. These have only been swatched because I have been so focused on my project pan that I have not been doing my normal makeup.

Lovely

Tea Party

On The Rocks

Top to Bottom: Lovely, Tea Party, On The Rocks

Ehrmagawd...Lovely is just that....lovely! Tea Party might just make me feel like a pretty princess. And On The Rocks is gonna be killer. I've said it before, I will say it again...I AM HOOKED! I freaking love glitter and shimmer and looking like a disco ball.

ColourPop Super Shock Eyeshadows

ColourPop Cosmetics has amazing eyeshadows. They are a bouncy, creamy, highly pigmented sparkle explosion for your eyes. I am officially hooked after using them for the first time two days ago. Best used with your finger tip for maximum color payoff, they can also be used with a synthetic brush (think concealer type brush). I used a Sonia Kashuk concealer brush and the teeny-tiny brushes from Real Techniques to get the look below. This post is going to be heavy with pictures: unboxing, swatches, and up close shots of each of the six shadows I ordered. It is a feast for my eyes, which is why I want all these photos in this one spot. All pictures taken in natural light with no flash & no filter/editing.

~The best part: Every item from ColourPop is only $5! And a $30 order gets you free shipping!~

Each shadow was wrapped in bubble wrap and the handwritten note is something I have never seen a company do before.

~Bae~

~Deck~

~So Quiche~

~Amaze~

~I Heart This~

~Fantasy~

Swatches in same order as listed above. Very bottom is Frida, one of their LippieStix.

 For today's eyeshadow I used Bae and I Heart This. Super simple to do: Dab Bae on eye lid, up towards crease. Apply I Heart This into crease and up towards brow bone and also on inner corner. Using a Real Techniques smudge brush line lower lash line half way in with Bae, and line the inner part with I Heart This. I also tightlined my upper lash line with black liner and added two coats of mascara. No joke, easiest eyeshadow I have ever done and the one I have been extremely impressed with. The colors are original and the glitter in the shadow itself blows me away. It did not photograph like I had hoped, but in real life....BAM! Ugh. So Purdy me thinks!

Mascara is 2 coats of CoverGirl's Full Lash Bloom, my new favorite.

Here's looking at you, babe!

Mah face...blush is Makeup Geek's Spellbound.

If you are an eyeshadow addict, I highly recommend trying a few of ColourPop's Super Shock Shadows.

New Nars "Dual-Intensity" Eyeshadows

Nars came out with some new "Dual-Intensity" eyeshadows that can be used dry for a light wash of color, or wet for intense color, and oh are they pretty!



Cassiopeia, Europa, & Phoebe
Real Techniques Shading Brush

Cassiopeia is an iridescent pink that has a slight purple/pink duo-chrome. This one is my favorite and is the most unique color I have ever seen. Europa is a peachy-pink, and Phoebe is an amethyst (purple). These three shadows together are perfection for me. Although I own purple shadows, I have been scared to use them, as I always wind up looking like I have a black eye. That, and the fallout from other brands is bad. I am blown away with the Nars. They are velvet in texture, are easy to blend (even when wet), and last ALL day long. I did my makeup at 11:00 this morning and it is now just past 9 p.m. and my eye makeup still looks as good as it did when I first applied it. I used the Real Techniques Shading Brush and am happy with the results. Nars does sell a "wet/dry" brush, but at a $28 price tag, I shied away from it. This RT one for $6 works well. To wet the shadows I spritzed my brush with MAC's fix +, then dipped into the shadow. No hard pan formed, which made me happy.



Mascara is Too Faced's "Better Than Sex"

I put Phoebe on the outer 1/3 and Europa all over the rest of my eye area. Europa is really light, almost fleshy peach-pink. Then, because of the glitter from Cassiopeia, I put that on the upper part of Phoebe and up to my outer brow bone. Finished with a line of Revolver liquid liner from Urban Decay and some mascara. Simple & fast. I took these pictures at night, so they aren't the greatest, and the color doesn't pick up all that well, but in real life, it's pretty, but not intense. These shadows are quickly becoming my favorite, what are your favorite shadows?

Have a good weekend everyone!

Tricky 3 (Using Urban Decay's Naked 3)

Trick is a gorgeous color in the Naked 3 palette. It's like an orangey/pinky glimmer goodness for your eyes. I watched a YouTube video this morning using Naked 3 and figured I would put my own spin on the look. If you don't know yet, Urban Decay has this whole "Naked" line of shadows, lip glosses, face powders, etc., that are geared towards the nudes. The "3" is pink nudes, soft, romantic, and pretty. I have used it a lot lately, as I am thinking of spring. In the wintertime I go a little darker with my makeup, but now that it is warming up, I am liking softer colors. Okay. Here we go....my "Tricky 3" look down below:

 
I really, really like how this turned out today. It was soft and somewhat subtle, the focus being on the eyes, but the cheeks/lips rounding it all out.

 

Do you see the shimmer? I first applied Trick on the "balls" of my eyes all the way up into the crease, patting the eyeshadow into place. (Patting a shimmer shade will help keep the glitter intact and prevent fallout.) Using Limit I took a fluffy crease brush and blended out the harsh line from Trick. Then I took a small stiff crease brush (I use ELF's $3 crease brush...it's amazing) and applied Nooner into the crease and a slight "v" on the outer corner of the eyes. I used Limit to blend a little more, up above my crease and onto my brow bone until there were no harsh lines. For the space just below my brows I used Strange as a highlight (this shade is matte and perfect for the brow highlight).

For the finishing touch, I used UD's 24/7 Liquid Liner in Smog on my top lash line, then used a dark brown eye pencil on the outer 1/2 of my lower lash line. It looked too blah, so I took a pencil brush and swept Trick on top of the brown pencil and all the way into the inner corner of the eye. Finished off with a coat of mascara and done!


Side view

Can you see the freckles on my nose?!?

The blush I have been loving lately is Mac's "Warm Soul". (Pictured above). It's a gorgeous warm, almost peachy light brown color with a slight shimmer. When I went into Mac to get a new foundation, the girl used this on me and I had to have it. I believe if I were stuck on an island, this is the blush I would want with me. You can see it on my cheeks 3 pictures above. I also used the bronzer from UD's Naked Flushed palette and a Smashbox highlighter on my cheek bones, down my nose, and on the sides of my upper face.

Above are 7 of the colors from the Naked 3 palette. I used Strange, Limit, Trick, & Nooner. For my lips, I used a Cargo Cosmetics lipstick (can't remember the shade) and a Lorac gold glitter gloss. Hope you liked today's look and thanks for reading this!

Leave me a comment with your favorite blush!

Bi-Facil Eye Makeup Remover

In the past I have tried a ton of different eye makeup removers, including, but not limited to, baby oil. Nothing seemed to work the way it needed to. Oil-free versions, the kind you have to shake to activate (which took me about a month to realize), wipes, everything. I was getting really tired of fighting with taking my makeup off every night. Mascara that left raccoon eyes the next morning, eyeliners that deemed it necessary to make their nest in my eyelashes, not a pretty sight.

I went ravaging through the Sephora website on the hunt for the top-rated eye makeup remover. Lancôme's Bi-Facil shouted my name and after reading through pages of reviews, I decided to take the plunge and just go for it.

The cap is one of those safety ones you have to push and turn, which made me happy, knowing that it will be locked for travel and won't spill any of "the precious" in my bag. There is a faint "clean" scent, but is in no way irritating to my eyes. I did have to shake the bottle to "activate", but I have this weird thing with shaking liquids anyways, even milk....

I had read a review that said to wet your cotton ball first, but I decided to try with a dry cotton ball first. My eye makeup sort of came off, but not as easily as I had hoped. I wet my jumbo ball, wrang out the wet, then applied a few drops of this remover and lifted it to my eyes. Perfection. All it took was a few swipes, no tugging or pulling, and all my eye makeup was off. Even my 24/7 eyeliner that is virtually indestructible came off with no resistance. There was no itchy, watery eyes afterwards, something that baby oil (and other removers) have given me in the past. You know that cloudiness over your eyeballs where you have to stand in front of the mirror until you can see again feeling?

Needless to say,  I am hooked!!! I am hoping this bottle lasts me a long while, because it is pricey. But it works. Very well. This has become my new holy grail of removers. Dang, I just wrote a whole post on eye makeup remover!

Tip of the day: Shop around for your perfect eye makeup remover. Most stores have a good return policy on cosmetics, and if you do not like something, return it! There is no point in wasting money on something that you just don't like and does not do what it claims to do.