Ice Storm FOTD

Toronto is cleaning up from an ice storm and it's still a bit dangerous to be outside due to slippery roads and sidewalks and ice-encrusted branches falling, so despite it being December 22 and having things to do to prepare for Christmas, I'm staying in. I was out earlier this morning to take photos - you can see them here - and while a bit scary and dangerous, ice storms are incredibly pretty. Everything is encased in ice. 

Because I'm stuck inside, I decided to do a beauty look I've been thinking about, using purple and silver. I'm calling this the Ice Storm FOTD. It's a pretty basic smoky eye, using purples and I paired it with a bright but subdued lip and neutral, sculpted cheeks. 

Here are some close-ups of my eyes. 

Here's what I did:

On the outer corner of my eyelid I pressed MAC Altered State (deep purple with soft brown-burgundy undertones) in a V shape, and smudging it across the outer half of my lid. I layered it until I got the pigmentation I wanted, buffing as I went to keep it soft. On the inner corner of my eye, I softly brushed Dior Argentic (dark grey/silver), buffing and buffing for softness. On top of the Altered State, I applied L'Oreal Colour Infalliable in Purple Obsession (deep purple with pink and royal purple microshimmer), pressing it on to get the pigmentation I wanted. With a fluffy crease brush, I blended it through my crease to soften some more. The Altered State provides the darkness and depth, while the Purple Obsession gives it lots of shimmer and colour. On top of the Argentic on my inner lid, I applied MAC Silverwear (metallic lilac) to lighten it up. 

Along the outer corner of my lower lashline, I swept a combination of Argentic and Purple Obsession and along the inner corner I applied Silverwear.

To clean up the edges further, I used a clean brush and two of the matte fleshtone shades (Nougat and Honeycomb) from the Sleek Au Naturel palette to buff all along the eyeshadow. 

To define my upper lashline, I used MAC Fluidline in Blacktrack to do a cat-eye flick and once dry, I topped it with some Altered State, using an angle brush. I lined my waterline using Urban Decay eyeliner in Ransom (pinkish-blue-purple) and applied black mascara after curling my lashes.

My brows I filled in slightly with MAC Wedge eyeshadow to keep them neutral and subdued. 

I used MAC The Perfect Cheek blush (neutral rosy pink) to contour below my cheekbones, and I applied MAC Mineralize Skin Finish in Soft and Gentle (warm, shimmery champagne-peach-beige) to the tops of my cheekbones as a highlight. 

On my lips I used OCC Lip Tar in Grandma (I think, the name has rubbed off) which is a coral shade that leans quite pink on me (see photo above). I applied a little bit and blotted it down, smudging it with my pinky finger to soften the colour and work it into my lips. I didn't want too strong a colour since I had purple on my eyes. But I think it works well. A little bit of warmth to an icy look. 

My skin is Sleek BB cream, OCC concealer, and Pari Mineral Glow powder mixed with Ben Nye powder to set. 

So there you have it - a sexy, colourful smoky eye look - perfect for a night out in winter! Anyone could wear this look, but it'd be especially smashing with brown eyes. 

Here's me doing my best haughty Ice Queen look. 

Stay warm, safe and dry lovelies!

C.

Eyeliner Crushing: Lauren Mayberry

Still from the 'Gun' video

Lauren Mayberry is the singer for a Glaswegian electropop band Chvrches (pronounced "churches"). She's adorable, right? Like a little pixie with her big brown eyes and delicate features. She reminds me a little of Emma Watson. 

I'm in love with the way she likes to wears her eyeliner. Long swooping lines that extend towards her nose on the inside and well out towards her temple. In the photo here, she's only got that long, extended line on one eye and there are tiny dots of eyeliner at the ends of each swoop. 

Sometimes she pairs it with some silver as in the photos here and here. 

Lips are kept rosy and slightly glossy. Skin is natural. It's a very simple look, but it's also very compelling. 

Sometimes she goes a bit heavier with her eye makeup, but keeps that elongated shape. In this photo it looks like she's got metallic (perhaps silver) swoops extended down onto her cheekbone. 

So pretty, and so cool. Referencing both the 1960s and the 1980s.

Here's the 'Gun' video - great tune. 

Check out Chvrches online here: 

http://chvrch.es/

http://www.youtube.com/user/CHVRCHES

Estee Lauder Pure Colour Stay-On Shadow Paint in Steel Review, Swatches and Photos

I picked up one of the new Estée Lauder Pure Colour Stay-on Shadow Paints recently. These were a new product launched in January 2013 in nine shades. They retail for $28 CDN each.

Here's what the Estée Lauder website has to say about the Stay-on Shadow Paints:

Go from smoky to wildly intense with non-stop shadows lit with shimmer. Pure pigments in a creamy shadow. Light-emitting dimensional pearls create shimmer to high-metallic finishes. Finger paint it onto lids. Glides on quickly, wears infinitely-all day.

TRUE VISION™ COLOR 

• Maximized colour impact
• Magnified vibrancy, clarity and dimension
• Amplified brilliance

FORMULA FACTS
• 12-hour wear
• Crease-free
• Won't fade
• Dermatologist-tested
• Ophthalmologist-tested

I picked up the Stay-on Shadow Paint called Steel, which on the Estée Lauder website looks purple-blue. It most definitely is not purple-blue, it's looks like they've simply labelled it incorrectly. Neon Fuchsia's photo looks the closest to Steel in actuality (and definitely not a "neon fuchsia"). 

Steel is a silver-taupe with a slight yellow-green tinge and sparkle (yellow, gold and red stand out the most). I can't resist a shimmery silver eyeshadow....

Look at this shade! It. is. stunning. 

The texture is interesting. I haven't come across anything similar in my beauty travels. It's sort of a thick liquid, pigment suspended in a sort of thin gel. It's not really cream-like, as you'd expect from a cream eyeshadow.  

It's meant to be applied with your fingers, like a finger paint. You'll want to use your pinkie as it's the smallest finger and so, the easiest to apply with. 

Here it is swatched on the back of my hand, lightly.

And here, more heavily.

I tried applying it to my eyes with a flat eyeshadow brush. This is a good option if you don't want to contaminate your product by dipping your fingers into it. You can apply it to your eye with a brush and then blend with your finger.

However, in the photos below, I used my brush to apply and to blend. On the left, I've applied Steel more heavily and on the right, softly. (The bits of hair on my face are from getting my hair cut earlier that day).

It applied very sheerly, and dries fairly quickly, so you'll want to work fast if you want to build up the pigment. 

As you can see in the below photo, of the heavier application, it got a bit blobby either from the brush application or because the bottom layer dried before I applied the other layers. 

Here it is with the sheer application. You can still see my skin through the product and it's a much lighter silver colour. 

Here is Steel applied with my fingers.

It's kind of in between the light and heavy applications done using a brush. There is a bit of a bare-ish spot on my lid that I just could not get any shadow paint to stay on and I layered it. I'm not sure what happened there. Steel isn't as easy to work with as I'd originally thought, I guess. It takes some effort. 

I was seriously impressed with the lack of creasing in both the light and heavy applications. It dried and it stayed put. For hours. 

You certainly don't need much product to get a good effect. One pot of Steel will last me a long time as it's not a colour I'll wear every day. It's very shimmery. Some of the other shadow paint colours would be wearable every day, such as Pink Zinc, Halo and Chained. 

At $28 CDN, these are pricier than the comparable-in-quality MAC Paint Pots ($22 CDN). But they do wear very, very well. I've only tried them with an eye primer (Urban Decay) so I don't know how these would fare without (my eyelids are oily). If you're in love with any of the colours (such as the Extreme Emerald - the colour of 2013!), and don't mind paying a little more, I recommend. Otherwise, MAC Paint Pots come in more colours if you're looking for a longwearing cream eyeshadow.

Grade: B

butter LONDON Fall 2012: Dodgy Barnett Review and Photos

First things, first. I know that if you're not from the UK, you're probably wondering what in the world is a dodgy barnett? It's slang for "bad haircut" and it's the name of one of butter LONDON's fall/winter 2012's colours.

butter LONDON describes Dodgy Barnett as a highly holographic shade that blues the line between grey and silver. 

This was my first time trying a holographic polish although I've seen (and been fascinated) by photos. I love wearing grey and silver on my nails so this was a no-brainer for me to choose. The holographic part of the polish is multi-coloured - but the stand-out colour is orange and yellow. 

The photo below shows a three coat application. The glitter in it is very, very fine so it went on smoothly (chunkier glitter makes the brush drag on the nail). As each layer went on, the holographic effect increased. If you wanted to use this as a holographic top coat this would work over another colour very well.

I love this polish. I couldn't stop looking at my nails while wearing it, which actually was an impressively long time without any chipping (under a top coat). It went on smoothly, dried swiftly (as all of the butter LONDON polishes I've tried do) and it wore well. I also liked that  this shade doesn't scream fall/winter - it works well as a transition shade and the holographic nature is intense in bright sunlight.

Grade: A

A Clockwork Orange Hallowe'en FOTD

I love Hallowe'en. It's always a bit of a challenge to come up with a costume and to get all the components together for it, but it's so much fun to play dress-up even for just a few hours. 

This year I attended a 'Heroes and Villains'-themed party. My costume was inspired by the 1971 movie A Clockwork Orange and specifically, the character of Alex DeLarge (Malcolm McDowell).

The film tells the story of teenage Alex and his "droogs" (friends) in a future version of Britain. They wear all white, with braces, codpieces, black bowler hats and black boots. Each of the boys wear an item of makeup and Alex wears false eyelashes on his right eye, top and bottom. 

The film, based on the novel by Anthony Burgess has become a cult classic. It was written, produced and directed by the legendary filmmaker Stanley Kubrick and won a number of accolades including four Academy Award nominations.

It's been one of my favourite films for a long time and it's a cool costume for Hallowe'en. Finding an all-white outfit after Labour Day was not easy, and I didn't end up wearing the codpiece or the suspenders but otherwise, I think I nailed it. 

The make-up was a bit of a challenge as well. In creating a female version of a male look was tough. I wanted to feminize the look as I wasn't trying to look like a man. I wanted to be a female version of Alex DeLarge. 

Here's how I achieved it.

I wanted to keep my skin looking fairly natural, so I applied concealer and powder where I needed it, as well as primer where needed to keep my look in place as long as possible.

Products used:

• Laura Mercier Oil-Free Tinted Moisturizer
• Bare Escentuals SPF 15 Foundation and Mineral Veil
• MAC Studio Sculpt Concealer
• Vasanti Liquid Cover

For the eyes, I used MAC's Tundra Shadestick all over both eyes, blended into the crease and slightly onto the browbone. I traced a line under my eyes as well.

MAC Shadestick in Tundra

With MAC Shadestick in Tundra

On top of that, I applied MAC Mineralize Eyeshadow in Family Silver to brighten the silvery effect.

MAC Mineralize Eyeshadow in Family Silver

With MAC Mineralize Eyeshadow in Family Silver

Next comes the lashes! I used MAC #7 lashes, both on my right eye. First I curled my lashes to provide a base for the falsies. 

*Note: these are MAC's best-selling lashes and they're awesome. They work well as bottom lash lashes as well as regular lashes. 

MAC #7 Lashes and Duo Adhesive

With MAC #7 lower lash applied

With MAC #7 top and bottom lashes applied.

With MAC #7 lashes applied on the right eye.

To further dramatize my right eye, I lined my water line with black eyeliner.

With black liner on my right eye waterline.

Next, mascara on both eyes. My lases are quite fair, so even though the falsies are so dramatic, I wanted to make sure my light lashes didn't take away from the look at all. I applied the darkest mascara I own, a sample size of Diorshow Black Out.

Dior Diorshow Black Out Mascara

With mascara applied to both eyes. 

To finish the look, I applied MAC Strada blush as cheek contour (below my cheekbones) and slightly onto the apples of my cheeks. I wanted my lips to be subtle and natural but slightly emphasized so I used Smashbox lipliner in Smashing Muse and Becca Cosmetics lipstick in Estella. I also brushed my eyebrows up for a somewhat rougher look and used clear mascara to keep them in place.

MAC Strada blush

Smashbox Sheer Lipliner in Smashing Muse

Becca Cosmetics Lipstick in Estella

Side view of the finished look.

In character!

The silver on my eyes is subtle enough yet gives the look a shine and futuristic feel as well as feminizing the look. It also ties my version to the 60's look of the film.

 My complete costume included: 

• white men's button-up shirt (thrifted)
• white skirt (American Apparel)
• white tights (American Apparel)
• black ankle boots with spats (Winners)
• black walking stick (Malabar)
• black bowler hat (H&M)

A. Hosking Photography

What was your Hallowe'en costume this year?

C.