Follow:
Search results for:

harmony

    A bare-cheek contouring standby | MAC Harmony Powder Blush (Matte) review, photos, swatches

    The product: MAC Powder Blush in Harmony (Matte)

    After seeing Harmony (one of my first MAC products) on Makeup and Beauty Blog this week, I had to put up a proper post about it. I love being able to see the same product on a range of different skintones, and I thought this was the perfect example.

    I know a lot of you read MABB, but for those of you who don’t, here’s a quick primer: it’s written by a lovely terrifyingly awesome crazy cat lady named Karen, whose skin is about an NC42 (though sometimes here forearms are a little lighter). By contrast, I sit somewhere around an NC15, and despite absolutely adoring cats as long as they’re not kittens, I’ve never owned one.

    Or even cat-sat for one, to be honest. I’m not the best at keeping things alive.

    The shade: What’s cool about a blush like Harmony is that it can span a really wide range of skintones, but it’s quite different on them all. On Karen, it’s a really natural, bare-cheek blush; on me, it’s a warm, dark contour shade.

    While I love the depth and pigmentation of this one, I find that it’s best to use a light hand with it, and I find that I’ll often mix it with a matte grey shade to cool it down a bit. That said, though, it’s not unwearably warm, the way some bronzers can be — it’s just not quite perfect on cool skintones.

    (Read Karen’s MAC Unsung Heroes post on Harmony, where the below swatch has been sourced from, too!)

    The verdict?

    Despite the fact that Harmony was my first MAC blusher, and I still use it on a pretty frequent basis, I can’t see myself re-buying it — for what I want it to be, it’s too warm to be perfect. That said, though, if you’re looking for an easy-to-find contouring shade (for fair-to-medium neutral-to-warm skintones) or a matte natural-nude blush (for warm medium-to-dark skintones), it’s definitely worth a look.

    While I think $20 US/$24 CAD (less for the pro pan) is a touch high for some of MAC’s sheerer blushes, the formula and amount of pigment in this one makes it well worth the price. There are far too few easy-to-find contouring shades out there, and at the very least, this one doesn’t have Chanel Notorious’ $42 price tag.

    (And for an even more affordable contouring shade, try NYX Taupe — I’ve heard quite good things about it, at least for fair to light-medium skintones!)

    Keep reading! »

    Share:

    Punk Rock + Sepia Tones | A Marc Jacobs/NARS-inspired makeup look… twelve months late

    !Sepia toned makeup, eyeshadow tutorial

    Do you know how long it’s been since I’ve done a full makeup look and posted it? Months. Seasons. The last two were in April and May of last year.

    Despite what the wait may have led you to believe, here’s a makeup look that I actually really loved. I shot it a year ago to the day, so I barely remember applying it, but I do remember being inordinately fond of the entire thing. It’s loosely inspired by the makeup created by François Nars for the Fall 2013 Marc Jacobs show — messy, smokey, a little punk rock.

    I hope you like it as much as I do.

    !Marc Jacobs, NARS Sepia toned punk rock makeup

    I literally don’t remember putting this eye makeup on, but looking back, I do really love the way it turned out — smoked-out black with eye open, and a flash of a toned-down burnt orange with eyes shut. The “sepia” shade is Clinique Fuller Fudge (a Chubby Stick for Eyes), and the black is the soft charcoal-black from Clarins’ Graphites Eye Quartet. 

    The other three products listed at the bottom of the page are just your standard window dressing: MAC Blanc Type, still my go-to matte highlight, and Annabelle Licoriche softly through and along the upper lashline (and, okay, with the dregs then pulled through my brows — multi-tasking, man). On my lashes is Armani’s Eyes to Kill mascara, which I’m still reaching for whenever I want a super-pretty, voluminous, clump-free lash with no fuss.

    !Marc Jacobs eye tutorial !Soft punk makeup look

    For the base, I used theBalm timeBalm Concealer in Lighter Than Light and Marcelle Face Powder in Translucent — always, always, with these two. I really should try something new, but it’s hard, you know? Especially when you feel like the only cool-toned, too-pale, vaguely-olive person out there who can’t come within arm’s reach of anything containing ‘cones. I hear Marcelle’s Monochromatic Pressed Powder is ‘cone-free, so maybe that’ll be my next powder to try — though I did really want to try something glowy.

    On the cheeks, I’m wearing MAC Harmony (much warmer than my usual fare), and on my lips is Clinique Curviest Caramel — a Chubby Stick (Intense), of course.

    !MJ NYFW F13 look

    Products used & an extra super surprise photo »

    Share:

    YSL Marrakesh Sunset Palette swatches, review, photos | YSL’s Summer 2013 5 Colour Eyeshadow Palette

    YSL Marrakesh Sunset 5 Colour Eye Shadow Palette review

    The product: Yves Saint Laurent Marrakesh Sunset Palette (Ombrés 5 Lumières/5 Colour Eye Shadow Summer Look 2013)

    Summer may be over, but I couldn’t not share this gorgeous YSL palette with you anyways. From the packaging, to the formulas, to the eyeshadow shades, this is one palette that really can’t be missed — um, so I’m really very sorry that I’ve taken so long to get this post up.

    YSL Marrakesh Sunset Eyeshadow Palette swatches

    The packaging: To start us off, this palette is packaged in a gorgeous gold case, unique to this collection. The same in size and function as the regular 5 Colour Eye Shadow palettes, the Marrakesh Sunset Palette features a Moroccan arabesque design on the front, “engraved with golden satin contrasting against shiny golden reflects.”

    Their words, not mine. You know palettes mean business when they come engraved — and though this one fingerprints like crazy, I have to admit: it’s pretty unique.

    Limited edition YSL Marrakesh Sunset palette packaging

    YSL Marrakesh Sunset 5 Colour Eye Shadow Palette packaging

    YSL Marrakesh Sunset Palette review

    YSL Marrakesh Sunset Ombrés 5 Lumières Eyeshadow Palette

    The eyeshadows: The shades of the Marrakesh Sunset palette are, well, made to be representative of a beautiful Moroccan sunset, and they do a wonderful job of it.

    The centre highlighter and bottom two shades create the impression of a warm, hazy sky, brightening and lifting the eye area with shimmering finishes and peachy undertones. The highlighter, softer than the other four shades, swatches almost like a shimmer finish within a frost — from a distance, it has a watery, metallic effect, and it makes a beautiful inner corner highlight.

    YSL Marrakesh Sunset Eyeshadow palette swatches review

    YSL Marrakesh Sunset Palette swatches: bottom left, centre, bottom right, top left, top right

    The top two shades are the accents of this palette, but while both are gorgeous, I felt like they could have used a little more pigment.

    The medium brown has green-yellow undertones, and on the lids (where the gold shimmer is more diffuse than in the swatch), the undertones make my eyes look rather haggard. On someone warmer, darker, more peach, or even just a little bronzed, I think they’d have worked much better.

    YSL Ombres 5 Lumieres eyeshadow swatches - Marrakesh Sunset review

    YSL Marrakesh Sunset 5 Colour Eye Shadow Palette swatches

    Finally, the violet. Oh, god — this one is absolutely beautiful both swatched or in the pan, but like the bronze, it doesn’t quite work. It’s a medium-opacity shade with most divine undertones, perfect for both warm or cool skintones, and they’re complemented with absolutely mesmerizing fuchsia and blue (!) microshimmer.

    The shimmer, however, has a terrible tendency to fall down during application — it actually has less shimmer than the other four shades, but it was the only one that speckled my cheeks as I blended. While beautiful, at the price point, I was left wanting more from this one: more pigment, a more buttery texture, more adhesion to the skin.

    YSL Marrakesh Sunset palette swatches review

    The verdict?

    At $72 CAD, this palette isn’t a must-have. I love the shades in theory, but they’re best on warmer, darker, more bronzed skintones — on anyone who can pull off sheer golds and peaches well.

    The violet (oh, the beautiful violet!) has a tendency to produce shimmer fallout during application, and none of the shades were as pigmented or buttery as I would have liked them to be. Though beautiful, Marrakesh Sunset simply doesn’t make enough of an argument to justify its price tag, and I think it can be skipped.

    Availability: $58 USD/$72 CAD where still available. (Limited edition Summer 2013).

    Additional photos & more »

    Share:

    Bright Blue Pastel Lids | Topshop AW13 (Drugstore Eyes!)

    !Soft blue eyeshadow Topshop look

    Okay, so: I know I haven’t been the best about posting recently, but I’m trying to be better, I swear. I think I still need a couple weeks to really get back into the swing of things, but I may as well start now!

    Here’s a quick, springy look to start off the week. Created by Hannah Murray for Topshop AW13 at the last last London Fashion Week, the look is “a bit Brit pop, a bit Eighties, a bit New Wave with an urban edge,” according to Murray. Backstage artists paired fresh skin with almond-shaped pastel blue eyes, and — I don’t know. It’s a bit of a “look,” isn’t it? Super-easy, but still not something I could ever see myself really loving.

    Read Vogue’s backstage report for the show here, and catch a full tutorial here.

    !Pastel bright blue eyes

    Topshop recommends using their Eye Crayon in Kingfisher to get this look, but it’s not actually what was used backstage. Rather, Murray put down a green eyeshadow base (I’m guessing a cream eyeshadow), then topped it off with a pale blue eyeshadow.

    I went with a more direct approach, layering a white primer with a matte blue eyeshadow, but I would have liked to have used something with more intensity — the soft “glow” was lovely in real life, but I think the way it photographed left a little something to be desired.

    You win some, you lose some, I guess!

    1. No makeup look (prep)

    Start with a blank canvas

    2. Cornflower blue makeup (intermed step)

    & add a little colour. (Pre-blush & mascara)

    The cool thing about this look, though, is that you could honestly sub in whatever shade you wanted to. I love the look of a matte finish for an eye like this, but I’m not crazy about bright blues — I think I’d have loved to do a lilac or a cobalt instead (both of which happen to be part of Sephora’s current ColorVision forecast, handily enough!)

    Here are a couple springy shades that caught my eye:

    Colourblocked pastel eyes

    Shiseido | Sephora | MAC | Stila

    Keep reading! »

    Share:

    YSL Y Facettes (Pure Chromatics No. 14) Palette: review, photos, swatches | Less manic, more moody: a surprisingly smokey take on spring pastels

    YSL Y Facettes teaser

    The product: Yves Saint Laurent Y Facettes Palette (Spring 2013) / Pure Chromatics Wet & Dry Eyeshadow Palette in N0.14

    Every release has that one product that really makes the collection, whether or not it was intended to — Clarins’ face palettes tend to steal the show, for instance, and the same goes for shu’s eye palettes.

    In YSL’s Spring 2013 Arty Stone collection, that product is their Y Facettes Palette, a limited-edition packaging of their Pure Chromatics Wet & Dry Eyeshadow Palette in No. 14. 

    YSL Y Facettes Spring 2013 Eyeshadow Palette

    The formula & pigmentation

    “The new Pure Chromatics harmony, in its jewel box of fine Y facets, shimmering like the reflections of a thousand sequins, captures the same intensity of light diffused in the prisms of precious gems.”

    YSL Y Facettes Palette - swatches, dry

    YSL Y Facettes, swatched dry on primed skin

    YSL’s description of their Pure Chromatics (“a concentration of nacres and pigments much higher than traditional shadows,”) leads you to believe they’ll be densely pigmented, but I just couldn’t get as much colour out of these as I had expected to be able to without foiling.

    Dry on unprimed skin, they’re barely whispers of colour; dry on primed skin, they’re medium-sheer and very shimmery. Foiled, they’re much more intense, with just the right amount of pigment for the shimmer.

    Had they not been described as such, however, I would have been quite happy with their level of pigmentation. While not breathtakingly intense, it works wonderfully with the aesthetic of the palette, translating onto the eyes with plenty of colour without taking away from the highly faceted finish.

    YSL colour swatches Y Facettes

    Point-extracted colour samples from the swatch photos: as “real” as you can get!

    The shades

    Every time I swatch this palette, I love it a little more: the shades, like a handful of sugar-coated pastels, all grown up, aren’t ones that I would normally drift toward…

    YSL Y Facettes Eyeshadow Palette

    Somehow, though, that doesn’t make me like them any less.

    These shadows were inspired by malachite (“an intense, profound green,”) fluorite (“a powdery, iridescent rose,”) amethyst (“a fresh, smoky violet,”) and azurite (“a metallic, lustrous blue.”)

    YSL swatches - Y Facettes Arty Stone palette, foiled

    YSL Y Facettes / Pure Chromatics No. 14 Eyeshadow Palette, swatched wet

    A description of each, labelled under its muse:

    • Malachite: a very “fresh” green; sheer pigment with a heaping of finely-milled on-colour and slightly-brighter-green microshimmer.
    • Fluorite: the most sheer of the four, this pink base is almost translucent — but the microshimmer and on-tone shards flash brightly, keeping it far from unnoticeable.
    • Amethyst: the most pigmented, this smokey violet is my favourite of the bunch, and has a frost finish (shimmery pigments so small and uniform that none of them flash out separately).
    • Azurite: “standard” shimmery medium blue with silvery-blue microshimmer. This one would be boring on its own, but is the perfect compliment to the rest of the palette.

    YSL Y Facettes packaging

    The verdict?

    At $55 USD, I would absolutely recommend this palette — I didn’t like it at first, but by the time I had used it for a few looks, I was crazy about it. My sister, who on sight told me she thought it was horrendous, had the same reaction: one super-easy eye look and she was head over heels.

    For those of you who aren’t quite sold (after all, $74 CAD is hard to swallow), stay tuned and keep an open mind, okay? I have a look coming up on Monday showcasing this palette, and I think you might be surprised.  

    (If you can’t wait… here’s a preview. Follow here to stay up to date with previews, etc. on Instagram!)

    A very cool applicator, the ingredients, & more photos »

    Share:

    YSL Crème de Blush in Rose Quartz & Red Agate: review, swatches, photos | Arty Stone, Spring 2013

    YSL Rose Quartz Creme de Blush 7 - Spring 2013

    The product: Yves Saint Laurent Crème de Blush Cream Blush in No. 7 Rose Quartz & No. 8 Red Agate

    There are a few YSL products that you hear a lot about: their iconic Touche Éclat, of course, or their brilliant Rouge Pur Couture Glossy Stains. I’ve been poking around in more of the line with their Spring 2013 Arty Stone collection recently, though, and I have to say — YSL? Not a one-trick pony.

    Yves Saint Laurent cream blush Spring 2013

    The Crème de Blush formula

    YSL’s cream blush formula is whipped and velvety, more a mousse than a heavy cream or gel. The lightweight texture applies smoothly (“like silk,” as promised!) with fingertips or a foundation brush, and dries down to a radiant powder finish.

    YSL Creme de Blush - Spring 2013 Arty Stone

    Yves Saint Laurent Creme de Blush packaging

    These blushes aren’t super-pigmented when swatched, but they have more than enough colour to them. I find the pigmentation works in perfect harmony with the texture, delivering a sheer or intense cheek with very little fuss. 

    These blushes are lightly perfumed, and gorgeously so — easily one of my favourite-smelling blush formulas! (What’s yours?)

    Yves Saint Laurent Creme de Blush swatches

    YSL Crème de Blush swatches: Rose Quartz, Red Agate

    No. 7 Rose Quartz

    Yves Saint Laurent Rose Quartz Cream Blush

    Rose Quartz is a lively, bright pink with cool undertones and just the slightest hint of yellow in the base. I have a makeup look coming up soon for you featuring this blush, and I have to say — it is the perfect pink for the season.

    The velvety finish has a hint of radiance (the super-tiny microshimmer is at times so hard discern that I’m almost convinced it’s fairy dust), and it does a wonderful job of giving the cheek a glowing, “lifted” effect.

    Yves Saint Laurent swatches Rose Quartz- Creme de Blush

    YSL Crème de Blush swatches in 07 Rose Quartz & 08 Red Agate, heavily/lightly

    No. 8 Red Agate

    Surprisingly enough, the brick-red warm undertones of Red Agate are wearable on more than just warm complexions — despite my very pale, cool-toned skin, I had no problem adding this to my everyday makeup routine. While Rose Quartz has a strong blue undertone, Red Agate delivers a much more natural-looking flush, which may appeal to the more subdued makeup-wearer.

    YSL Red Agate Creme de Blush No. 8 - Arty Stone

    I love the gorgeous, shimmer-free (but somehow still startlingly radiant) finish (it must be fairy dust), but be careful with this one! The same pigments that create this lovely warm red turn into a “fevered” cheek if you overdo it, though the colour is well worth the caution if you ask me.

    The verdict?

    As much as I enjoy these blushes, I find it hard to recommend them at the $52 CAN price tag — even at $38 USD, they’re pretty expensive. That said, if you love a cream-to-powder blush, these are a great product: the packaging makes me think of super-chic ice cubes, and the colours are beautiful!

    Find them at: Nordstrom & Sephora online; $38 US/$52 CAN.

    Keep reading for ingredients & more photos! »

    Share:

    Violet + black smokey eyes | A Lana Del Rey-inspired makeup look

    I have a (not-so-secret) secret: I’m kind of a huge Lana Del Rey fan. I’m not crazy about her face, and I’m on the fence about the whole persona she has going on, but — Lana Del Ray A.K.A Lizzy Grant; Born To Die? Kind of loved them.

    Anyhow; today’s look is a Lana-inspired smokey violet eye, inspired by the look below. I’m actually pretty sure that the “violet” part of the smokey eye was added in post-production (and not all that well), but hey, the resulting image is no less stunning!

    Hope you enjoy the look!

    Read the tutorial & see a different set of images here.

    Keep reading! »

    Share:

    Don’t miss this | Get the Look: Greyscale smokey eyes

    This week’s She Said Beauty look was a really basic one — greyscale smokey eyes, as a bit of a change-up from the traditional Summer smokey eye. (Read: brights, brights, and more brights.)

    I wasn’t totally crazy about this look in the end, and I think that’s just because I wasn’t crazy about the products involved. A lot of them were [boring] basics, and the others weren’t really anything to write home about, which left me kind of… underwhelmed.

    Read the tutorial for the look here, or keep going for more photos.

    Products Used

    Eyes: Sephora Collection Smoky Kohl Eyeliner in Grey, Imju Fiberwig Extra Long Mascara in Black, MAC Eye Shadow in Blanc Type (Matte2), FaceFront Cosmetics Pressed Eye Shadow in Greyscale and Fate by Chance, MAC Pigment in Fairylite (LE, try Naked as a dupe).

    Lips: GOSH Velvet Touch Lipstick in Darling

    Cheeks: MAC Powder Blush in Harmony (Matte)

    Share:

    Don’t miss this » Jessica Chastain Cannes 2012-inspired makeup

    Okay, so this isn’t the look that I’m dying to share with you (that one should be up soon, though; maybe next week?) but it’s a look nonetheless! I did a green-and-gold tutorial for She Said Beauty this week, inspired by the image below of Jessica Chastain at this year’s Cannes festival. It… well, to be totally honest, it turned out completely different from her look, but I guess that’s why they say “inspired,” right?

    Anyhow; I’m going to go lament the fact that I don’t look at all like Chastain (and for that matter, Michael-bloody-Fassbender; it’s is extremely unfair that we can’t all have faces chiseled out of stone) by eating copious amounts of inappropriate starches (and, seriously, if anyone caught that reference, you can be my new best friend) in the corner.

    See more photos & read the tutorial here.

    Products used, more photos, and Michael Fassbender’s face »

    Share:

    Don’t miss this | Metallic green winged liner

    Check out the post here or by clicking on either of the images!

    Products used

    Eyeshadow: Urban Decay Primer Potion, NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Milk (base), MAC Matte2 Eye Shadow in Blanc Type (lashline to brow), Smashbox Matte Eyeshadow in Smoke (brows and outer third), Senna Matte Eyeshadow in Fusion (middle of the lid & blended out)

    Eyeliner: Ellis Faas Liquid Eyeliner in Black, Marcelle LUX Metallic Liquid Eyeliner in Jade (layered together)

    Lips: GOSH Velvet Touch Lipstick in Darling (patted on very lightly)

    Cheeks: MAC Powder Blush in Harmony (Matte; to contour)

    Share: