Face of the Day! featuring Urban Decay Naked palette

This one’s a little belated, from about a week ago, but I’m wearing the same shirt and makeup today so consider it current!

Here’s what I’m wearing..

• Milani Secret Cover Concealer in Warm Beige
• Revlon ColorStay Active in Buff (love this stuff! Amazing staying power.)
• e.l.f. HD powder (to set my concealer and foundation)
• NARS bronzer in Laguna
• NARS blush in Orgasm
• e.l.f Shimmering Facial Whip in Spotlight (this is a shimmery white cream highlight that I dab on my cheekbones, above the cupid’s bow, on my brow bone and in the inner corners of my eyes)

• e.l.f Eyelid Primer (I use this to, duh, prime my eyes so my eyeshadow is long-lasting.)
• MAC Paint Pot in Bare Study (And, I use this in combo with the eyelid primer as an eye base to make my lids have an even starting point for shadow.)
• Urban Decay Naked Palette – Virgin all over lid to brow, Sin in outer corner (aaah, I LOVE LOVE LOVE this palette. I am going to post all about it, and other neutral palettes, soon. Swatches and dupes to come!)
• Victoria’s Secret Private Beach in outer corner and crease
• UD Naked Palette – Naked in crease, Buck in outer corner, Toasted as brow highlight – blend, Darkhorse in outer corner
• Whiskey liner (from UD Naked Palette)
• Curl lashes
• CoverGirl LashBlast Fusion
• Loreal HIP Jelly Balm in Plush
• Loreal HIP Shine Struck Liquid Lipcolor in Pretentious

5 minute eye look (featuring drugstore & high end products)

Sorry for the sporadic posts this week. I’ve been cuh-razy busy at work! But, I wanted to give a quick overview of a 5 minute (or less) eye look I’ve been going to just about every morning this week because it’s easy, fast and flattering.

As you can see, it’s pretty much my signature eye look…brightening and defining but not too dark or smoky. Call it boring (even though it’s not!) but it’s something that is appropriate for work that takes almost no time to pull together.

I start off with a double dose of eye primer. First, e.l.f. Mineral Eye Shadow Primer.

For $3 (either at the e.l.f. website or Target, if your store carries the line), this is hands down one of my favorite primers. It works just like Urban Decay Primer Potion and helps my eye makeup to stay put all day.

Once my lids are primed, I like to even out my skin tone with an eye base. I make sure to use light layers of both primer and base so it’s not too heavy. For this look, I go to MAC‘s Paint Pot in Painterly.

Next, I reach for my Wet n Wild Color Icon palette in Vanity.

You get 6 shadows in this palette — 3 matte and 3 shimmer (each finish comes with a light color, a medium brown/gold and a deeper brown). I start by highlighting the inner corners of my eyes with the lightest matte shade (sort of a peachy skin tone color) using an e.l.f. Defining Eye Brush, which is a small eye brush with slanted bristles, perfect for placing shadow in a really specific area.

Next, I use the lightest shimmery shade, more of a white than a peach, to pack on my lids, using an e.l.f. Eye Shadow Brush — just your average flat shader brush.

After that, I use the e.l.f. Blending Brush to sweep the medium matte brown across my crease, to add a bit of definition and depth.

Then, I grab my flat shader brush again and take the shimmery gold (the medium shade) and sweep on the center of my lid, blending to the outer corner. I keep the inner part of my lid really light. Then, I grab a clean e.l.f. Defining Eye Brush and take the dark, deep brown and form an outer v on the outer corners of my lids. I blend it all out with the Blending Brush to make sure there are no harsh lines.

To finish, I line my bottom waterline with Rimmel Soft Kohl Kajal eye pencil in pure white and add Prestige Total Intensity Eyeliner in Bold Brown to my upper and lower lash line. Then, I curl my lashes and top it all off with CoverGirl LashBlast Fusion on my lashes!

I’d definitely recommend this as a quick work or school look. If you need an eye look in a hurry but don’t want to look like you sped through it, this is going to be great for you! And, I’m giving away one of the Wet n Wild palettes and Prestige liners in my August giveaway, so check that out and enter!

FTC: Even though I’m mentioning a lot of e.l.f. products, I purchased them all myself and was not provided any of the products mentioned by any company…I use them because they’re inexpensive and good quality!

Quick CVS Haul – 90% off makeup!

I made 2 trips to 2 different CVS stores after work today. The first one still had items from the 50-75% off beauty sale — score, I thought! This sale started back in the spring, and I’ve found some leftovers! I got a Maybelline ColorSensational lipstick in Born With It, and a Sally Hanson Natural Makeup Inspired by Carmindy lipstick in Lilac, both on clearance (and a $1 off coupon for the Maybelline lipstick!).

That’s the Born With It on the left and Lilac on the right. Born With It is a really pretty, sort of nude pink-y shade that I think will work nicely on my pale skin. Lilac is quite a bit more dramatic, with deep purple undertones. Still super pretty, though, and since I’m a fan of the Sally Hansen Natural Makeup lipsticks, I immediately tried it on…

I also got two CoverGirl Eye Enhancers shadows — one in Golden Sunrise and another in Brown Smolder — because I had two coupons for $2 off any CG product (and CVS was having a buy one, get one 50% off with CG).

So, nice kind of boring haul, right? I stopped by a different CVS just to see what they had, and as soon as I walked in, I saw a table with a sign that said “90% off” and wouldn’t you know…there were a few makeup products just begging to be bought.

And how much did it cost?

That’s right, just over $5 for 3 shadows and 2 blushes!

I’ve never tried Almay shadow before. I have a cream blush and a bronzer from them, which I like…nothing that’s holy grail, but they work for good everyday products. I got these shadows in the shades (l-r) Apricot, Ivory and Petal. You’d think this could create a nice neutral eye look, right? Maybe the Ivory all over the lid, with Apricot in the crease and Petal as a highlight. But when I got home and swatched them (and the CoverGirl shadows from my first CVS stop), I was a teeny bit disappointed (or as disappointed as you can get from not loving 80 cent eyeshadows).

The photo quality isn’t the best, but the Almay shadows really were not all that pigmented and were kind of chalky. But, I think I can work with them, and if I use an eye primer (like Urban Decay Primer Potion or e.l.f. Mineral Eye Primer) with a base (good ole MAC Paint Pot in Painterly), they might be OK. Left to right, that’s Almay Apricot (kind of a peachy bronze), Almay Ivory (the most pigmented of the 3…a shimmery off white), CoverGirl Golden Sunrise (I like this one…very bronze-y with a touch of gold), CoverGirl Brown Smolder (a rich, deep brown that I’ll use for defining the outer V of my eye), and Almay Petal (super sheer and frosty).

The mineral blushes I got will be fun to test out. I have a ton of blushes in my collection but rarely reach for anything other than NYC Blushable Creme Sticks topped with NARS Orgasm.

Maybelline Mineral Power blush in Gentle Pink. Got it for 95 cents!

The sticker says 50% off, but it rang up 90% off! Just like rock beats scissors, register beats sticker!

24.7 Minerals Anti-Aging Mineral Blush in Champagne. Not sure I love this as a blush, but it’ll probably be a pretty highlight color. I don’t know much about this brand, other than I first saw it in CVS maybe late last year, and soon enough, they had just about everything from the line 50% off (and now the leftovers at 90% off).

Don’t you love impromptu shopping trips that turn into major reasons to brag on how much you saved?

Quick Face of the Day – 7/29/2010

I woke up this morning (actually, slept all night, too) with a migraine, so I stayed home from work. I wasn’t even planning on doing my makeup or leaving the house, but I need to get to the postoffice, and I’m watching YT beauty videos, so I figured why not?

This FOTD is inspired by my Top 15 Drugstore (aka “Won’t Break the Bank”!) Beauty Products that I posted last night.

Foundation is Maybelline Dream Smooth Mousse (if you want details on my concealer/primer, it’s the same as in the FOTD in this post), and I also used my Milani HD Advanced Concealer to brighten my undereye area and the e.l.f. Studio High Definition Powder to set it all. Blush is an NYC Blushable Creme Stick in Plaza Pink, which could have been on my Top 15 list…let’s call it #16! I set that with a sweep of NARS Orgasm Blush on both cheeks.

The eyes have it! That’s a combo of 3 things on my Top 15 list — Wet n Wild Coloricon palette (this one in Vanity), Prestige Total Intensity Eyeliner in Bold Brown, and CoverGirl Lash Blast Fusion mascara.

I wanted a pinky coral pop of color on my lips since my eyes are neutral. So, I paired Sally Hansen Natural Beauty Inspired By Carmindy lipstick (not the Baby Pink that was on my Top 15 list…I used Perfect Pink instead) topped with Revlon ColorStay Mineral Lipglaze in Continuous Coral. Got this at Target the other day with a coupon, and I love it! It’s really opaque and pigmented.

So, that’s what’s on my face today! Don’t forget that my Holy Grail Hair Treatment Giveaway ends TOMORROW at midnight, so get those last minute comment entries in!

Top 15 Drugstore (aka “Won’t Break the Bank”!) Beauty Products

Here’s the thing.

I love shopping.

And I love cosmetics.

But, I love being able to pay my bills and not go below $0 in my bank account.

So, I’m a drugstore makeup shopper. Yes, I like Sephora and MAC and all of the high-end stuff, but I’m not going to turn my nose down at a good product even if it can be purchased in the same store where I buy tampons and Tylenol. A good product is a good product, and it’s even better if I can use a coupon or get a really good clearance deal.

I’ve tested out lots of drugstore makeup, and I feel like I’ve tried enough to name a handful of “must haves” — actually, I set out to make a Top 10 list and ended up with a Top 15. In fact, I probably could go to a Top 20, but I need to set some boundaries for myself, I guess!

Here are some of my favorites, no particular order:

Maybelline Dream Smooth Mousse (foundation)
If you watch beauty gurus on YouTube, chances are you’ve probably heard of this foundation recently. It’s been getting lots of raves, and rightfully so. Let’s start off with the practical packaging. It comes in a jar, so you can dab your brush (or sponge, if that’s how you roll) directly into the foundation, unlike so many drugstore foundations that come in bottles without pumps, so you’re constantly pouring out way more product than you need. Another great thing? This really is a mousse-like consistency, really creamy and it sets almost to a powder on your face. For around $6 to $8 (probably less if you grab one of the tear-pad coupons on the Maybelline displays in the drugstore!), this is a winner.

e.l.f. Blending Eye Brush
I’d love to say I have a collection of professional makeup brushes. I’m sure that the proper implement makes a huge different in how your makeup is applied and what it ends up looking like. But, at this point, I’m working with a piecemal collection of brushes, mostly from e.l.f. Fortunately, their brushes are so good that I don’t feel like I’m really sacrificing by not having higher-end, more expensive brushes. I especially love their Blending Eye Brush. I’ve said it before, but it’s the perfect tool to apply a light, soft wash of color in the crease without any sort of harsh lines. It’s soft and fluffy, but the tip is dense enough to get a bit of concentration in your application. And for $1? I’m going to buy 10 backups so I never have to live without this brush!

e.l.f. Custom Compact
You’re going to notice a trend here — I love e.l.f.! Their custom compact is a great product, even though it doesn’t come with any sort of makeup inside (you have to purchase their custom shadows separately to create your own palette). What do I love about this $1 steal of a deal? The compact fits MAC eyeshadow pans! That’s right, for $1, you can create your own MAC eyeshadow palette. The compact is already magnetized, so no need to worry about gluing magnets to your pans, and another major bonus? The huuuuuge mirror! Of course, you can also fit the custom eyeshadow singles from e.l.f. in here (that’s what the compact is made for), so you can mix and match e.l.f. shadows with MAC shadows to create the four color combination that works for you!

Prestige Total Intensity Eyeliner
Pencil liners typically aren’t as easy to work with as liquid or gel liners, but these Prestige Total Intensity Eyeliners completely redefine what a pencil liner is all about. They glide on, stay put and come in a great variety of colors (fearless teal, bold brown, strong slate, powerful purple, intense olive — my fave). What more could you want in a liner, pencil or otherwise?

Revlon Super Lustrous Lipgloss
Scroll down a few posts, and you’ll see my recent rave review for the spring/summer collection of shades from the Revlon Super Lustrous Lipgloss. The permanent colors are pretty amazing, too. This is the closest thing to liquid lipstick that I’ve found. Great shade selection, smooth application, opaque pigmentation…color me impressed.

e.l.f. studio High Definition Powder
I really do love e.l.f. Cosmetics this much to include so many of their products on my Top 15 list! I use this powder every single day to set my foundation and any cream products I use. For $6 (or cheaper if you catch it during one of their frequent online sales), you get a huuuuuge container of loose powder and a nice puff (actually useable if you don’t use a fluffy brush to apply setting powder). I love the soft look and finish it gives to my face.

Milani HD Advanced Concealer
This is another part of my everyday face routine. I love this product after I’ve applied undereye concealer to hide dark circles and foundation. I use this to brighten my undereye area…not so much as a concealer but not really as a highlight either. It’s just a fantastic brightener and really opens up your eyes and makes you look refreshed and awake. And I love the clickable pen applicator, so easy to use and keeps you from wasting product.

Wet n Wild Color Icon Eyeshadow (palettes and singles)
I first heard about these palettes from EasyAccessBeauty on YouTube, when she compared them to MAC shadows in both pigmentation and consistency. Her video convinced me to get one of the palettes, Vanity (of course, it’s the neutral browns palette, and in case you couldn’t tell, I’m sort of a neutral shadow whore!), and it was love at first swipe! I got several of the singles (Brulee, Penny, Nutty) and one of the trios (Walking on Eggshells). These are great for everyday and evening/weekend looks. With a good base and primer, this shadow will stay put longer than your foundation!

CoverGirl Lash Blast (Length, Volume and Fusion) mascara
If there’s one thing CoverGirl knows, it’s mascara. Forget the high-end stuff…if you want the effect of false lashes without the glue and pain, you must try Lash Blast. There are three formulas — Volume (orange), Length (yellow) and Fusion (purple) — and I find them all the be true to their names. But, if you can’t decide which one to get, go with the orange tube…I think Volume gives you full lashes and the appearance of length, too. Must disclose that I was fortunate enough to try out Lash Blast Fusion through BzzAgent (read my post about what the heck that is here), but I would have purchased it myself if I hadn’t gotten it for free. For$8 and such an awesome quality mascara, why not?

TRESemme Thermal Creations Heat Tamer Spray
If you read my hair tips post, you know this stuff is holy grail for me! Smells glorious, comes in an awesome spray bottle and does the job. I blowdry my hair quite often, so I need something to keep it shiny and soft, despite the heat damage. This is another brand that you can usually find a “steal of a deal” on at Target or your local drugstore — keep your eyes peeled for coupons, buy one get one free, and things like that, so you can stock up on Heat Tamer Spray!

Sally Hansen Natural Makeup Inspired by Carmindy lipstick in Baby Pink
I picked up this lipstick (and other shades from the same line) by chance during one of the recent CVS 50-75% beauty sales. Turns out that what I thought was just a few cheap-o lipsticks includes my everyday, perfect pink pout! I also have the MAC Viva Glam Gaga lipstick, and even though this isn’t an exact dupe, it comes close.

It’s got maybe a touch more peach in it, but that makes it slightly more wearable than Gaga, which is a screamin’ baby pink. Love love love the consistency of this, too! Sort of like a cremesheen from MAC, this glides right on and you need just a coat, and you’re set. Perfect pair to my everyday, neutral eye.

L’oreal HiP Jelly Balm
This was another impulse, “must get because it’s marked way way down” buy that turned in to one of my favorite products. Super moisturizing, and depending on the shade, great to wear alone or on top of a lipstick. It’s a balm, but you’ll get a nice wash of color on your lips. I’ve heard that these are comparable to MAC tender tones, which you can only get at a CCO now because they’re discontinued. So, skip the CCO and try CVS (or Walgreens or Wal-mart or Target or…you get the idea) for one or two or ten of these!

Clean and Clear Moisturizer, Dual-Action Oil Free &
Olay Daily Facials Express Wet Cleansing Cloths
I’m using a picture of the two of these items together but counting them separately in my list of 15. I use a mix of high-end and drugstore skincare products. I think once you find what works for your skin, stick to it! But, some of us are on that eternal quest to find the perfect products for the clearest, softest skin, I know (which is why I’m still testing out some things…)! But, for drugstore skincare, I like these two! The C&C has salicylic acne medication and is especially made for dry skin, which is great for me (since I have both the occasional zit and skin that belongs in the Sahara Desert). I use it in the morning before applying primer. And, I love the Olay cleansing cloths to clean my face at night. They do a great job of removing my makeup and cleaning my skin at the same time.

e.l.f. Beauty Book – Neutral Edition
I got this product a week or two ago (see full review), and I’m LOVING it! $5 for 12 silky smooth, pigmented shadows that I can combine in a million different ways for a neutral, work (or play!) look. If your Target sells e.l.f. Cosmetics, look for the special endcap display with these Beauty Books — grab ‘em if you see ‘em! I get the sense that they’re limited edition, and for $5, they’ll be sold out before you know it!

Wake up…with makeup!

You know the drill. You meant to go to bed at a decent hour, but for whatever reason (couldn’t stop watching Forgetting Sarah Marshall on cable, lost track of time watching beauty gurus on YouTube, trying to cram every morsel of information about biochemistry into your brain before that major exam), you ended up getting no sleep whatsoever.

And it’s called “beauty rest” for a reason. You just look better when you’re well-rested. Your skin has time to replenish itself, the bags under your eyes are minimal or nonexistent, etc. But, we all have those mornings when we wake up, look into the mirror and see this:

But, don’t worry — you don’t have to leave the house looking like you need a few more minutes with the alarm clock. Here’s what I’ve found works best for me to wake up my face…with makeup!

Concealer
I have a naturally ruddy complexion, so I use concealer most days. But, I go heavy when I’ve had too little sleep because my face is more red than usual if I’m tired. Concealer also helps to disguise darkness and bags under the eyes, and you might also try putting some on your lids if you’ve got discoloration there. I always use concealer under my foundation instead of on top; I just find that it gives me a more even coverage. Here are some concealers I’ve used and that have worked for me:

• Milani Secret Cover Concealer Cream (this is a very smooth, creamy concealer that comes in a pot. You can apply with a brush, but I think it’s easier to dab a bit on my fingers and blend in where I need coverage)
• Lancome Effarcernes Waterproof Protective Undereye Concealer (I’m currently using this for undereye coverage. Because it’s waterproof, I find that it stays put throughout the day and keeps my undereye area looking bright and even.)
• Sonia Kashuk Hidden Agenda Concealer Palette (Hands down, my favorite concealer! This palette comes with three creamy concealers — a lighter peach, a darker peach and a greenish corrector — and a translucent setting powder. There are so many options with this palette for whatever type of concealing you need to do, whether it’s covering a blemish, canceling out redness, concealing undereye bags. It’s awesome.)

Bright Eyes
Even if you love a dark, smokey eye, if you’re trying to look awake, you should steer clear of the darker eyeshadows and liners, at least in the inner corner and half of your lid near the inner corner. Smoking out a bit on the outer v of the eyelid is cool, but the darker the color is toward your tearduct, the smaller and more closed your eye will appear, emphasizing your tired look. Try these eye-opening tricks:

• White eyeliner! Lining your waterline (the inner rim of your bottom lashline) with a pure white eyeliner will work wonders in eliminating “tired eyes.” If you haven’t slept well, chances are, your waterline is red, but the white eyeliner will open up your eyes and make your whole face look refreshed. I use Rimmel Soft Kohl Kajal Eye Pencil in Pure White.
• Highlight! Don’t forget to highlight the heck out of your browbone, above your cheekbones, and even your undereye area. You’ll want to use a product like Benefit High Beam for your browbone and cheekbone highlighting, but for your undereye highlighting, try to avoid shimmer. Instead, use something like the YSL Touche Eclat (or the Milani HD Advanced Concealer, a drugstore dupe for the YSL). These are both clickable pen-like brightening concealers that you can blend under your eye after you’ve put on your foundation and before you’ve applied setting powder, to give your face a really nice pop of brightness.)
• Shimmery shadows! Like I said above, even if you’re a fan of darker, more matte shadows, try dabbing a light, shimmery shade on your inner corners and across your lids to brighten your eyes. MAC Phloof! and Brule are great for this, and so are NYX Ultimatum, the lightest shade in the CoverGirl Shimmering Sands trio, and Flirter and Flutter from Lorac (those last two are in the Social Beautyfly Palette). But, across the board — in all price points — you can find a shimmery, light shadow like the ones I’ve mentioned. I use in inner corners and all over the lid, and darken in the crease and outer v with slighty darker colors to achieve this bright-eyed look:

So, pour yourself a cup of coffee, try these simple concealing and brightening tricks, and let me know if it looks like you got another half hour of zzz’s!