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.

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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