Project Pan

I have too much makeup. Hi, my name is Stephanie and I am a makeup addict. There, I said it, it's now out in the open. I feel better...well, not really. I thought I would do a no-buy, but realistically, I might falter at that. After watching a few YouTube videos about Project Pan, I figured this would be a better route to take. Instead of strictly not buying makeup for a set time period, I am going to make it a point to actually use up some products. It is currently 8 minutes before the clock strikes midnight, turning me into a pumpkin...no, before 2015, so I figured what better time than now to make this 'resolution'.

Tomorrow morning I will be going through my hoard, er, makeup stash, and picking out a few items that I need to hit pan/use up. I will document my results here, to give me some credibility, and remind myself that this is important.

Happy New Year!

ColourPop's Fantasy

Fantasy...I love the name of this Super Shock eyeshadow. It is everything I could ever want in a bright shadow: purple yet pink and chock full of glitter. It makes my inner fairy princess want to come out and play!

ColourPop Super Shock Pressed Pigment in "Fantasy"

The more I use these shadows, the more I fall deep in love with them. Fantasy is considered a pressed pigment, and wound up staining my arm where I swatched it. So, for today's eye look, I made sure to prime with Too Faced Shadow Insurance and put down a base of MAC's Paint Pot in Painterly. I have found that using a base makes the color pop even more, although they do not need a primer to stay perfectly in place until I take off my makeup at night.

Fantasy was dabbed on the outer 3/4 of my lid and slightly into my crease. Then I added I Heart This on my inner corner and on the upper edges where Fantasy stopped. The two blended together really well. As a brow bone highlight of sorts, I used White Chocolate from the Too Faced Chocolate Bar Palette. A thin line of black liquid liner gave the finishing touch. You can faintly see the glitter in the picture, but in person = sparkly goodness to the max!

I tried to keep the rest of my face fairly simple, but needed to use Becca's Opal Highlighter to tie together the shimmer in my eyes to the semi-glossy pink lipstick I used (Estee Lauder's Color Envy in Desirable). I hope you like this! I did not want to use Fantasy all over my lid since it is such an "in your face" color anyways, but I like to think it can be highly wearable this way. Have a good Christmas!

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.

Clinique Foundation

I feel like I am always on the search for the perfect foundation. Different times of the year call for different foundations. My coloring changes constantly it seems, as well as my skin needs. I thought I had "normal" skin, come to find out it is actually dry, with oil in the T-zone, and acne prone on my chin. It's a hot mess.

I went on the hunt this morning for a new foundation. One that is medium coverage, allowing my freckles to show through, I don't like the muskiness that the EL Double Wear gave me. (Double Wear sucks for dry skin, by the way). I found myself at the Clinique counter in Nordstrom's, after telling an employee I would not spend more than $40 on a foundation when she was trying to talk me into Givenchy. Uhm, no thank you. It's foundation. I wash it off every night.

Below is a picture of what I purchased:

Clinique Superbalanced Makeup in 04 cream chamois, Blended Face Powder in 03 transparency, Cheek Pop in 04 plum pop, Chubby Stick in 20 jumbo jasmine, All About Eyes eye cream.

My first impressions of the Clinique Superbalanced Makeup are good. It is not too thick and came out of the pump easily. I only needed 2 pumps to cover my whole face, using Sephora Pro Airbrush #55 (I forgot how much I love this brush!) It blended well, and surprisingly concealed the redness from blemishes and helped hide my under-eye circles.



No makeup at all. Fresh faced, dark circles, blemishes, & all!

Superbalanced makeup, one coat, no concealer.

Blended face powder, Cheek Pop in 04 plum pop, & Chubby Stick in 20 jumbo jasmine (that's it! NO concealer or anything at all. I would be comfortable walking out of the house in JUST this makeup)

I have high hopes for this foundation/powder combo. I think we all just want to be comfortable in our skin, so please don't fail me Clinique! For me, the best part is the price point. Nothing was over-the-top $$$, which enabled me to be willing to buy more than just the foundation. I'm happy.

Side note: The Cheek Pop is to die for. The formula went on so smooth and settled into a nice, natural flush...I'm hooked! After being disappointed in Revlon's Kissable lip balms (too drying), I now know why Clinique had the first chubby lippies. They are GOOD! Creamy and pigmented, does not crack or make my lips feel dry.

Mossy Green Subtle Smokey Eye

I had gotten a Lancôme Color Design quint in the color "507 Metallic Moss" last month, but never used it. My reasoning for buying it was that I didn't have any green shadows, and this would be the last palette I get before going on a no-buy. Today I cracked that baby open:



Lancôme Color Design - 507 Metallic Moss (flash/natural light)


If you've never used a Lancôme quint before, the colors all  mesh together beautifully, taking the guesswork out of what colors to pair with one another. It even tells you where to place the separate shadows on the eye. Easy peasy. The formula is a dream to blend, but there is a lot of shimmer (which I don't mind, but others may). The highlight shade (middle row, all the way to the right) is to die for. I don't know how else to describe it, except: light wash of beige with micro multi-colored shimmer...it is so pretty and is ultimately what drew me into this palette in the first place. The bottom pan (dark shade) can be used wet/dry as eyeliner...it's pretty much the best formula I have ever used for "shadow as liner".

 

These shadows are not overpoweringly bright, and the effects of the shadows are hard to see unless you are right up on someone. I personally like the subtleness of Lancôme products in general, especially on normal days. Again, I know my pictures aren't the greatest, but this blog is more for myself, a diary and a place to keep my favorite looks/products/thoughts. Have a good day!

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!

Loving Peachy-Pinks

I keep finding myself drawn to peachy/pinks' lately. I don't know if it is because it is summer and the colors scream "let me out I want to play", or if they just look decent on me, or what....but I have fallen in love with MAC's pigment in 'Melon' paired with their eyeshadow 'Expensive Pink'. This particular combo is super easy to use for a quick, yet pulled together look.

Steps:

1. Pack Melon pigment all over lid and just above crease. I use a stiff/flatter shadow brush that acts almost like a spatula for this. To make the color pop even more, wet the brush (with water or a fixing spray)
2. Apply Expensive Pink eyeshadow in crease and make a slight "v" shape on outer corner of eye. I use elf's contour brush because it is cheap and the perfect size for my crease.
3. On browbone sweep a highlighting shade. (I cannot remember what I used, but any vanilla/champagne color will work).
4. Brush on pigment under bottom lash line to "pull" the look together & apply mascara. I have been using Loreal's Miss Manga Voluminous Mascara and I LOVE it!!!

For blush I just patted Becca's Beach Tint Shimmer Souffle in 'Watermelon/Moonstone' (it is a highlighting & waterproof crème blush that smells like jolly rancher watermelon!!!) Lips are MAC's Mineralize Lipstick in 'Dreaminess' (baby pink).