A bit of this and some of that

Here is the look I applied yesterday, before my fyrinnae order arrived, that I promptly washed off to play in my new colors.  Greens and blues using a variety of different textures and brands :)

I used:
UDPP

NYX Irises in crease, applied with mac 217 (vibrant satiny matte tealy blue)
Random deep matte navy blackish Blue to deepen crease, blended into Irises
NYX Jumbo Pencil- Horseradish applied to lid, just up to crease
HiFi Cosmetics 100 proof patted over top of horseradish, to center lid leaving inner and outer corners bare (low shimmer minty color)
HiFi Cosmetics BoomShakaLaka applied to inner and outer corners of lid (midtone green with gold and lots o'shimmer)
HiFi Cosmetics Lover's Revenge along lower lashline (deep nav with lots of shimmer)
NYX Halaiwa on inner corners, blended into crease color
Ben Nye Toast - brow bone
Ben Nye black cake liner 
Black Kohl liner on waterline
Cover Girl Lash Blast- very black

NYX Blush- Pinky
NYX Black Label Lipstick- Diva   not Diva but Bling

This pic btter shows the vibrancy of Irisies in the crease:

 Thanks for looking!!

Fyrinnae- Wearable Yellow and Orange

super super excited!  My fyrinnae order arrived (in under 2 weeks!!!) and I am in awe of the sparkly goodness.  I have been trying to break my rut of purple and teal, so I decided to do my first fyrinnae look using yellow and orange.  It was sooo very difficult to not reach for the beautiful teals and purples which pretty much made up the rest of my order.... my resolve will not hold up long.


To me, this combo seems surprisingly wearable.  The colors are gorgeous and vibrant without being over the top and paired with the brown I definitely would rock this look to work.  My original intention was to pair this with a deep magenta pink in the outer corner, but opted for the brown at the last moment.  To me it kinda resembles a monarch butterfly :)

I used:
Milk jumbo pencil as base from lashes to brow
All Fyrinnae unless noted:
Banana Mochi on inner half of lid and inner lower lashline (Softly shimmery, almost frosted light golden yellow.)
Electro Koi  on rest of lid, blended into yellow (Vibrant orange that's loaded with coordinating sparkle.)
Ultrasuede applied to outer V and into crease and along lower lashline ( Matte, velvety deep charcoal brown. Great for smokey looks and eyeliner.)

NYX Chrome eyeshadow -Orange Blended between electro koi and ultrasuede
Ben Nye Toast on brow bone 
Rimmel Kohl Liner in White on waterline

(Ultrasuede is amazing.  I love matte shadows and this one does not disappoint.  It is such a perfect shade of brown and its blendability is amazing.  The texture is lush and almost satiny... the pigmentation is amazing. )

My handsome rottweiler, he appears to be being swallowed by the couch.

Thanks so much for looking!!
 

Soft Gold with Aromaleigh

Hello!

Today I tried out some of the manual settings on my new camera and after sorting through the pics, I am actually starting to grasp some of the differences between the shots. It is cloudy and gloomy here today, so I used the flash but adjusted the shutter speed and ISO settings to try and prevent any wash out of color.  I think a bit of trial and error and I'll have the camera down pat.  Here is a FOTD using mostly Aromaleigh with a bit of TKB.


I used:
Bare Necessity indelible cream shadow as base
Aromaleigh Awe on lid ( A sparkling lush golden khaki shade. Divinely unique)
Aromaleigh Slate in crease (matte light taupe)
Aromaleigh Smokin' in outer V (smoked mauve with earthy tones, set your stare on fire.)
Ben Nye Toast on brow bone (matte off white)
TKB Grape Pops on lower lashline  (shimmery true purple)
Bn Nye Black cake liner on upper lash line

Lips are NYX Gloss- LaLa
Cheeks are NYX Pinky

In these last couple of pics, you can't see the shimmer of the lid color... perhaps set the ISO too low?

New Camera

Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!  After much deliberation, I finally picked up a new camera.  I'm so very excited.  I got the Canon Poweshot  SX20IS this afternoon at Best Buy and just had to try it out immediately.  Just a couple of close ups of my eyes, excuse the far from perfect makep- this was after a full work day and some time out in the rain.  I just used the auto setting for these shots as I have so much to learn about this camera.  I have a feeling I will be on a posting spree for a while!  Click below if you are interested in reading more detail about the camera :)

My new Camera


On my eyes I used a few colors from a MAC Holiday Palette... think its the royal assets palette :)

What do you all think of the photo quality?  I think its pretty great, I didn't realize I needed to pluck my brows till I saw these pics ;)

Elegie

I had yesterday off and although I had many things to get done, I took the liberty to give myself extra make-up time in the morning.  I really wanted to use Aromaleigh's Elegie (this shadow has a dark and smokey indigo plum base with tons of multi colored glitter throughout), so I created the look around this shade.   This shadow is one that will not show its true beauty on camera, it might just be one of my favorites of all time.  It really needs a sticky base for the all the glitter to stick to and I really wanted to bring out the purple tones in it, so I opted for NYX jumbo pencil in Purple as a base on just the outer edges of my eyes.  This took some extra time, but I was happy with the results.  The manicurist at the nail salon was impressed and gathered the rest of the girls to look at my eyes :)  So here you have it, yet another teal and purple concoction... a favorite combo of mine ;)

I used:
UDPP all over eye area
NYX Jumbo Pencil- Purple (blended carefully into outer V)
Aromaleigh Elegie Patted over top of the NYX pencil with small shader brush (A dark dose of shimmering jewels. Add to other shades to deepen and dramatize, use wet-lined or all-over for a magnificent, glimmering smokey eye.)
Aromaleigh Strychnine patted onto rest of lid, blended into Elegie and up into crease ( Intense bright cool green. blacklight reactive) 
Aromaleigh Aqua Nightmare patted onto seam of Elegie and Strychnine and blended inwards (Technicolor bright aqua pearl sheen with divinely bright aqua sparks)
Ben Nye Toast Applied to brow with large dense shader brush and pulled down into lid colors to help blend edges (off white matte)
Blended edges with MAC 224 brush and cleaned up outer V with a makeup wipe to create sharp outer edge.
Aromaleigh Lavande (discontinued) blended into inner corners (palest shimmery lavender)
Ben Nye Cake liner- Black
Cover Girl Lashblast Fusion - Very Black

Lips are NYX Beige gloss
Cheeks are NYX Peach with MAC MSF soft and gentle as highlight

 

Thanks for looking all!!

Idol Eyes

Idol Eyes was the very first mac eye shadow I ever bought.  It is a silvery lilac with tons of glitter and shimmer- I love to pair it with purple.  This was a quickie look I put together the other morning when I slept in a bit later than I should have.  I think I would have preferred this with a smokey matte shadow as a liner in place of the usual black wing that I did. :)

I used:
Bare Necessity Indelible cream shadow as base
Aromaleigh Slate applied in crease as lid contour/blender color
MUFE #92 applied to lashlines with 219 and winged out (kinda like eye liner), then blended out
MAC Idol Eyes patted all over lid
NYX Barely There as highlight
Ben Nye Black cake liner
Cover Girl Lashblast mascara- Very Black

Lips are NYX black Label in India, with NYX gloss in beige

Cheeks are Benefit Coralista

These lips did not look streaky IRL, dunno why they do here ... I actually love this lip combo :)  NYX Beige gloss is not beige at all, but actually the perfect light pink.

Thanks for looking!

NYX Black Label Lipstick Swatches

I've been kinda raving lately about the Black Label Lipsticks from NYX, so I have decided to share some swatches with you all.  I have a preference for creamy mattes (like MAC's amplified cremes) and so I was careful to review and choose the colors accordingly.  Not an easy task when ordering from NYX because they provide no written descriptions and their swatches are never close to reality.  I found Makeup Alley to be really helpful and I think I chose some really great colors!  All are creamy mattes with the exception of one, Orchid, which I would describe as more like MAC's cremesheen in that it has a bit of a lustre to it.   In the pics below, the lipstick is freshly applied, without any liner or lip primer.  I find after a few minutes, the colors all really set nicely and lose a bit of their sheen while still remaining soft and moisturizing.

Without further ado:

L to R: Heiress, India, Nude

L to R: Bling, Diva, Orchid

Heiress

India

Nude

Bling

 

Diva

Orchid

Disclaimer: the degree of smile on my lips in no way indicates a preference to a particular color :)


so, with the exception of Orchid, they are all nudes of varying degrees.  I like nudey lipsticks!  The color called Nude looks amazing with a swipe of creamy pink gloss (like NYX's Beige for example) over top!  A reviewer on MUA described Nude as a cross between MAC's Shy Girl and Creme d'Nude, I would have to agree.

So... what are some of your favorite nude lippies?

You're A Criminal- Smokey Silver w/HiFi

Hello

Today I used one of my new HiFi shadows called You're a Criminal... it is such a pretty and unique silvery grayish taupe.  I bought a bunch of shadows when HiFi first announced their sale- buy 2 shadows get 1 free.  This sale runs through the end of April, check out their etsy shop HERE.

Somehow, I ended up at the makeup counters in Macy's again and was sucked into buying Clinique stuff because today was the last day of their bonus day.  I got myself All About Eyes-Rich to moisturize my under eye area because I've been wanting to try it forever.  I just put some on after washing and exfoliating and it feels quite nice- I will update as I use it more.  The makeup bag that came with it is really really cute and I just love getting travel sized lotions to keep in my overnight bag to make packing for trips easier.  It also came with an eyeshadow duo,a mini mascara, a tone correcting face cream as well as the 2 makeup bags and the travel size dramatically different moisturizing cream.  I like free stuff!  I am proud to say that I stopped at MAC and was able to control myself, although I swatched Shale and it was really really pretty.  That might go on my wishlist :)  Anyway, on to the LOTD.

A few days ago, I ordered a bunch of NYX Black Label lipsticks from Cherry Culture and I am just loving them.  In this look, I used a color called India.  It is a super light salmon/melon nude in a creamy matte texture.  The color is not the easiest to wear because it is so very light, but I like the effect when contrasted with a darker smokey eye.  It has full opaque coverage and is not drying at all.  I really love Black Label lipsticks so much more than their round ones.

Hmmmmm, maybe one of these days I'll do something besides a smokey eye ;)


Eyes
UDPP
NYX Jumbo Pencil in Black Bean smudged lightly to crease as base
NYX Taupe to contour lid, and blend out edges of black base (matte golden soft brown)
NYX Cream Cheese on Brow Bone and inner corners
HiFi Cosmetics You're A Criminal all over lid up to crease, patted on top of black bean
NYX Black in outer V and along lower lashline (matte black)
Ben Nye Cake Liner on upper lashline
Urban Decay 24/7 liner in Zero on waterline
(The MAC MUA thought I was wearing Electra shadow over top of Smolder Eye Kohl)

Lips are NYX India

Cheeks are Benefit Coralista

The pics without flash better portray the smokey nature of the look, while the flash ones show the shimmery gorgeousness of the HiFi shadow.

No Flash:

The rest are with flash:

NYX smokey purples

Hello!



Here is a look using NYX shadows... a smokey purple.  This was kinda inspired by a look I saw ages ago by Kuuipo1207  on YouTube.   Really looks nothing like her look, but the color scheme is the same.  I used lots-o-shimmer in this look, and find they photograph kinda messy ...

Eyes:
UDPP (running so low, think its time to saw that sucka open)
NYX Jumbo Pencil- Milk
NYX silver on inner corners
NYX Purple on center lid
NYX rock on outer corners, V, into crease (rock is a black with some shimmer that buffs out kind of blue)
NYX Black to deepen V
I can't remember what highlight I used, but it looks pretty shimmery

Lips are Bare Escentual Buxom lip pencil in Las Vegas

No Flash:

Thanks for looking!