I'm back.

I cant' believe I havent' posted here in a year. Well no - I can. Life has been hectic. Life is still hectic but I'm hoping that having the year off will allow me to get back on the blogging bandwagon (guess it all depends on the little dude...)

Today I want to tell you about one of the products I don't think I could live without now: Urban Decay's Primer Potion in Eden. It's described at a matte tawny color. Even on days when I don't wear any other makeup I sweep this under my eyes and over my lids. Under the eyes it works like a concealer (and it helps to hold concealer longer when you do apply it) and over the lids it evens out the color and helps your shadow last all day.

Why Am I Just Discovering This Now?

The Beauty Blender. My new best friend~ Seriously - I was a bit skeptical but loving all things makeup I had to try it out. It is awesome! Sooo much better than a regular triangular sponge. You just dab dab dab and then blend a bit and voila - no foundation lines and perfect coverage. I'm not totally sold on the need to buy the blender cleaner (you can buy just the blender) but I did purchase it to try out.

It's not cheap but totally worth it IMO.

Fabulous Lashes

Today I'm going to demonstrate some techniques that will make your lashes look long and full no matter what kind of mascara you use. I'm going to be using Revlon Beyond Natural Defining Mascara. You should have already applied all your other eye makeup (basically shadow) already.

First I start by using an eyeliner brush and a cake liner to create a very fine line right up against my top lashline. This helps to make the lashes thicker without being a noticable liner line.

Next (and this step is optional - and should be saved for special occasions, not everyday) I take a soft black eyeliner pencil (in this case Rimmel Soft Khol Kajal Eye Pencil), lift up my upper lid, and line just below and into my upper lash line. Liquid liner would be to harsh here and powder might fall in your eyes which is why I use a pencil. The softer the better so you don't end up tugging on your delicate eye lid.

Next I curl my lashes and apply the first coat of mascara. I like to run the mascara wand over a tissue to get rid of any lumps. Starting at the roots of the eyelashes sweep the brush horizontally from roots to tip and wiggle a bit from side to side as you move the brush up. Repeat on the other eye. Let that coat dry for a minute and then repeat. This will add the volume to your lashes.

After you have finished the second coat, use whatever mascara is left on the wand to go back over your lashes but this time hold it vertically. Pull the want from roots to tip again but focus on the tips to add length.

<

Voila!

MAC Stash

I got up early and kid is still sleeping so now I have time to post about the MAC makeup I got while on my trip. This is mostly for my kit but still fun to play with occasionally.

First is my Paint Pot in Bare Study*not the color in the picture*. I liked so many of them but with a limited amount of moola to spend I needed one that I could get the most uses out of. I think this will come in very handy for doing wedding makeup. It can be used as a base over the lid before shadows, or a hilighter. It's a nice neutral color. It's described as champagne with gold and white pearl.

I also purchased my first jar of pigment. I went out on a limb and bought a color I woudn't normally look at but it was so fun. Blue/brown is a deep brown with a blue/green reflection. The thing that is cool about the pigment is they can be used in so many different ways. As eyeshadow, lip color (though I probably wouldnt' use blue brown on the lips!), blush (if you have a pink version) etc. You can also use them wet or dry - and a small jar lasts forever as I've been told.

I've been lusting after the Slimshine Lipsticks for a while so I had to pick one up. The color I chose is called Scant, which is a mid-tone plum with gold pearl. It's a very pretty color - I wanted to keep it for myself instead of adding it to my kit - but I already have wayyy to many personal lip colors. It feels very light on the lips and I love the sheer color. It's not too shiny but is not matte either.

Last but not least I coudln't NOT purchase a Lip Glass. I love the new Viva Glam VI color so I had to get it. They describe it as a soft pink tinged mauve.

My Vacation Goodies

It's been a while - but I've been sans internet access for over a week and then had to catch up on housework, then we went backcountry camping for a couple of days. Whew! I think we are done for the summer. It really doesn't feel like we had much summer this year. Boo.

Anyway back to the topic at hand. While we were in Ottawa and Montreal I hit up Sephora and MAC and came away with a few goodies I wanted to share.

First of all I have some of this for my kit but because I have rosacea I wanted my own personal bottle so I picked some up. It is great because you can put it on even without foundation and it will tone down red areas without leaving a green color on your skin.

Also by Make Up For Ever I picked up some HD Invisible Cover Foundation. I LOVE it! IT is lightweight yet still covers well without looking like you are wearing a lot of makeup. It comes in TONS of shades so it's easy to match one to your skin tone. I found one that matched my pale skin perfectly . That's not easy. Normally I find something close but either a little too orange or a little to pink.

I needed a new under eye concealer so I decided to try Cargo's One Base. I do like it - it provides good coverage even on my extra dark circles. It doesn't make them dissapear completely but I don't think there are many products out there that could. The nice thing about this product is the quantity that you get with it. The tube is quite large so if you are only using it under the eyes it should last quite a long time.

You are supposed to be able to use this on your face for spot concealing also - but you would need a different color as its not a great idea to use the same color under your eyes as on the rest of your face. Your under eye concealer should be a shade or two lighter than the rest of your face - whereas your spot concealer should match your skin exactly. Too light and you end up drawing attention to the areas you want to hide.

I'm a sucker for eyeshadows so I also picked up a Cargo Eyeshadow Palette. The one I chose is called Vienna. It contains 3 brown toned shadows and one blue. The lightest color is a great hilighting color and the medium brown works perfect for everyday. The darker brown can be used as a crease color or all over the lid if you want to make blue eyes really pop. The blue is just a fun option for something different.

I'll be back to post about my MAC purchases later. I need to get some other work done this morning :P

Beyond Basic

I meant to do this post a while ago but between a week at the lake and then having a sick kid, I haven't been able to find the time.
The next look I'm going to describe is a bit beyond the basic look but not a full on evening out makeup look. It's something you would wear to work or when you want to feel a little more polished.

1. Start with a light to medium coverage foundation. You can use a primer if you so choose as it will help even things out but it's not totally necessary. If you have super clear skin you could mix together a bit of sunscreen and foundation and use this in the place of just foundation for a very light coverage with sun protection.

2. Conceal darkness under the eyes and then using your skin matching concealer or foundation stick conceal any blemishes and areas of redness. For blemishes remember to pat around the blemish (not over top) to blend.

3. Apply powder to set your makeup. Concentrate on areas with concealer.

4. Take a medium shade of eyeshadow in a neutral color or a contrasting color (to make your eye color pop) and apply it from the lash line to just above the crease. We'll save contouring for a more dramatic look later on.

5. Take your hilight color from the basic look and apply it to the brow bone and just above your cheeks.

6. Take a grey, brown or black liner and line the top lid close to the lashes. I like to use a powder and brush for liner during the day. I apply powder to the brush (angled), place the brush against my lashes and wiggle it back and forth gently. This gets the color inbetween the lashes and makes them look thick without having a noticible line.

7. Optional - fill in your brows with powder and an angled brow brush.

8. Curl your lashes and apply a coat or 2 of mascara.

9. Apply a natural looking blush and for a pop of color that will last a bit longer, take a bright pink and apply lightly to the apple of the cheeks.

10. Apply a natural pink, peach or browny pink lipstick and or lipgloss and you're finished.

I'm still in my pj's now so I haven't taken any pictures. I'll update later with some phots.

Basic Makeup

Basic makeup is one my my favorite looks because it doesn't take a lot of effort or time, yet you still feel pretty and polished when finished. It's the perfect look for everyday. Here are the steps that I follow when doing the basic makeup application:

1) Start with your foundation. No scratch that. The very first thing you should do EVERYDAY is apply a sunscreen to your face (and body if exposed). AT LEAST SPF 15.

If you feel you need some coverage use a light to medium coverage foundation. You may only need a tinted moisturizer or powder. Apply to the whole face or spot cover red areas and areas that need to be evened out.

2) Take your concealer (one to two shades lighter than your foundation) and cover the undereye circles. Take a different concealer OR stick foundation in a shade that matches your skin and spot conceal areas with blemishes or redness.

3) Apply powder. I focus on the areas that have been concealed( undereyes plus some on the lids for a smoother and even surface) and the t-zone.

*If you want to apply a bronzer for a bit of a sun kissed glow - now would be the time to do it. Apply bronzer to cheeks, temples and a tiny hint on the bridge of your nose and tip of chin.

4) Apply a hilighting color to your eye area, just underneath the brows. I either use Benefit's High Beam or today I used Rimmel Colour Rush Quad Eyeshadow in Chocolatine. You can also apply a bit to the corner of your eye right around the tear ducts.

5) Apply eyeliner just to the top lash line. Black is usually too dramatic for an everyday basic look, so I use either dark brown or grey. Get as close to the lashes as possible. I used Rimmel Extreme Definition Two-Tone Eye Definer in Vamp (the darker side).

6) Curl the lashes (unless you are blessed with long curly lashes). This helps to open the eye area. Tip: Squeeze the curler at the base of the lashes, move it up a bit and squeeze again, and then again at the tips. Instead of crimping the lashes at the base this will give them a bit of curl. For even more curling power use a blowdryer to heat the curler before you curl the lashes (but not too hot - you don't want to burn your eyelids accidentally!)

7) Apply one coat of mascara. I've been using either L'oreal Voluminous Original Mascara or Revlon Beyond Natural Defining Mascara. Tip: Wipe the applicator with a tissue prior to applying your mascara to remove clumps.

8) Apply blush to cheekbones. A peachy pink color looks pretty and warm on almost everyone. I really like NARS Orgasm. If you use a blush with a bit of shimmer skip this next step, otherwise...

9) Apply a hilighter to the tops of your cheekbones.

10) Finish with a swipe of a natural colored lip gloss ( I used Rimmel Vinyl Bronze Mirror Shine Lipgloss in Summer Nude) and Voila!

It looks like a lot of steps but it should really only take minutes.