FOTD: February 19, 2015

Hi Everyone!

It’s currently my reading week and today I decided to play around with a makeup look I haven’t really worn before to see how it would work out. I’m not going anywhere but sometimes these are my favourite days to just play around. I got a request from my friend Joy’s sister to test out a cut crease look. Although this isn’t a perfect cut crease yet, I still like the look. The perfect cut crease is going to take practice because I’m so used to blending out all harsh lines which kind of defeats the purpose of a cut crease. I’m working on it!

Face

Simple Light Hydrating Moisturizer

Nars Sheer Glow- Mont Blanc

Estee Lauder Double Wear Foundation- Ecru

LA Girl Pro Conceal- Classic Ivory

Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer- Chantilly

Anastasia Beverly Hills Contour Kit- Vanilla, Banana, Fawn

Laura Mercier Secret Brightening Powder

MAC Blush- Melba

Eyes

MAC Paint Pot- Soft Ochre

Lorac Behind the Scenes Eye Primer

Lorac Pro Palette 2- Nectar, Lt. Brown, Plum, Charcoal, Black

Lorac Pro Palette- Deep Purple, Mauve, Sable, Espresso, White

Bobbi Brown Longwear Gel Eyeliner- Black Ink

Maybelline Lash Sensational Mascara- Very Black

Velour Lashes- Whispie Sweet Nothings

Brows

Anastasia Beverly Hills Dipbrow Pomade- Soft Brown. Medium Brown

Lips

Milani Color Statement Lip Liner- Nude

MAC Lipstick- Blankety

Bye for now!

Chelsey

Holiday Hot Look #1 Glitter and Red Lips

Hi Everyone!

I have a holiday look for you today! I decided that this year I’m going to squeeze in as many holiday makeup looks as I can, these are so fun to create! The holidays are a time to bust out the glitter and bold lips and all that fun stuff so that’s what we’re doing today. So without further ado let’s get to it!

Okay so to begin I already put my base on (foundation, concealer) and my brows. We’re going to start with the eyes and then move onto the face and lastly lips.

Step One

For the eyes, I’m keeping the shadow very simple. I’m going to use the Lorac Pro Palette, but the shades are the most basic and can be found in tons of palettes.

I primed my lids, then took the shade Taupe and used it as a transition shade. There won’t be tons going on with the shadows, so this was important to add dimension. Keeping it super simple, I took Cream and swept it across the lid. And finally for shadows I took Espresso into the outer V and into the crease to add some depth. That’s it for shadows, easy right?

Step Two

The next step will be the base for the glitter we’re going to use later. This is also very simple. Using the Essence Gel Liner in Midnight in Paris (Black) I drew a medium thick line across my upper lash line and then created a wing.

Step Three

While this was drying, I went ahead and gave the lower lashline some colour. I took Espresso again on a flat definer brush and pressed it into my lower lashline about half way. I then took taupe on a pencil brush and blended it out from inner to outer corner.

Step Four

Now it’s GLITTER TIME! So to make this really fun for the holiday, I will be adding some sparkle to the eyes. I have chosen the Lit Cosmetics Glitter in Hot Chocolate for this, as it’s a really pretty dark bronze shade and would be flattering on all eye colours. To apply this I’m taking the tiniest angled eye liner brush I could find, dipping it in the Lit adhesive and then into the glitter which I tapped into the cap. I then just used the black liner as a guide and filled in with the glitter until it was mostly opaque. If you mess up and ‘draw’ outside the lines, don’t worry because once it dries it can be flaked off with a Q-tip and or some makeup remover.You could bring the glitter down onto your lower lashline as well if you’d like.

Step Five

While that was drying before I curled my lashes, I did the rest of my face. I first warmed up my skin with Laguna Bronzer. contoured with Fawn from the ABH Contour Kit and then added Benefit Rockateur Blush and blended it all out seamlessly with a duo fiber. Lastly, I added some Becca Opal to highlight. I then went back and added mascara. You could of course add falsies to this look, but it would look best if the lashes had an invisible band, as the glitter covers up the black, so they’ll look pretty obvious. I didn’t have any in that style so I stuck with mascara.

Step Six

Now onto the lips. For this I chose a holiday classic, a red. This red is a little unique since it has orange undertones, but you can pick whatever red you like best. I started by lining my lips with Milani’s Color Statement Lip Liner in True Red and shaded in the edges, as the liner isn’t an exact match with the lipstick, so this helps everything blend nicely. If you mess up with the liner, just clean it up with a q-tip.

I then took the lipstick and filled everything in with the Nars Audacious Lipstick in Grace.

Here is the finished look!

I hope you enjoyed this holiday look and let me know in the comments what looks you’re loving for this holiday season!

Bye for now!

Chelsey

IMATS Toronto 2014 Haul

Hey Everyone!

I recently went to my first ever IMATS show and I thought I would show you what I picked up and then share how our (I went with my sister) day went and what I thought overall of the event.

Beauty Blenders

The first thing I knew I wanted to pick up were some extra Beauty Blenders. I have been obsessed with this method for foundation lately and haven’t really been reaching for brushes, so I decided to get a couple extra since they need to be washed frequently.

Brushes

We also stopped at Bdellium Tools and Morphe Brushes, as they are super affordable and both my sister and I wanted to add some extra brushes to our collections. I ended up picking up 6 brushes all under $6. I picked up a 776 Blending Brush that looks exactly like the Sigma E25, 2 liner/brow brushes, a bent liner brush, a shader brush and a duo fiber brush for blending. I used some of these this morning and they seem to be great quality.

Lashes

I was hoping to be able to stock up on some lashes during this trip and there was an abundance of options to choose from. I picked up 7 pairs of Red Cherry lashes for $10, which is a great deal. I picked up a variety of styles to experiment with different looks. I also picked up one pair of Velour Lashes to give mink lashes a go, they were giving a pretty good discount as well (regular $35 discounted to $20).

Glitter

I wasn’t planning on purchasing any glitter, but I got so sucked in. Ever since my glittery Halloween mask, I have been on a bit of a glitter kick so I just couldn’t say no. We stopped by Lit Cosmetics on our way out and I picked up a kit that had 2 glitters, an adhesive and a brush for $15!

Make Up For Ever Artist Shadows and Z Palette

I definitely did not think I would leave with more eye shadows, but I have a serious weakness apparently. My sister and I swatched these shadows and we were hooked. I actually waited in a 2 hour line to pay for these which is complete insanity. I didn’t know what I was getting into. These don’t come in any proper case, so you do need to store them somehow. They were selling duo and trio palette cases that weren’t expensive but I know I would never use these if I store them that way. I decided to purchase a Z Palette to keep them all in one spot and right where I can see them, the bright yellow will certainly help! Excuse the ugly swatches, I was running out of arm space!

Jordane Cosmetics Color Intensifier Eye Gel

The last thing I picked up was a mixing medium. This gel can be mixed with pigments or shadows to make intensified shadows or liners. I think this is a fun thing to play around with and I can’t wait to use it.

Pretty Young Thing Styling Tool Holder

The last thing I picked up is a holder for my hot tools. I saw this and had to pick it up. It suction cups to flat surfaces to keep your hot tools from melting your table. This is also handy because I have been known to brush up against the curling iron and burn myself way more often than I’d like. I thought this would be so handy.

So that was it for my haul, now onto my IMATS experience.

IMATS Experience

Overall I think we did really well for our first time at IMATS. There was so much to look at and take in, but I didn’t feel overwhelmed. We went pretty early and we knew we would have the whole day, so it didn’t feel rushed. The crowds around certain booths (Morphe, MUFE and MAC) were very intense, so it definitely takes patience. Most people were super patient and waited their turn, but of course there are always a few who like to butt and cut people off. If you don’t like crowds, it most definitely died down in the afternoon, but of course some things had sold out. One of my favourite parts of the day was getting to meet some Youtubers in the flesh! I met MakeupByCheryl who is one of my absolute favourites so that was such a fun experience! She actually recognized me, so that was pretty cool! The PixiWoo sisters Sam and Nic were also there and although I didn’t meet them I can say that they are even more beautiful in person! I also met Stacey (StaceyBrennan on Youtube) and she was insanely sweet. Another thing I noticed that I really liked is that for the most part the vendors weren’t pushy at all, they didn’t keep bugging you, they let you really have a look and go to them to buy but didn’t keep trying to sell. Pushiness really turns me off of buying, so I really appreciated that. Overall, we had a great day and I hope that this will become a yearly tradition!

IMATS FOTD! ^

IMATS Tips

Now that I’ve been there are a few things that we did that worked well and some things that we didn’t do that would have helped.

1. Eat before you go

This probably seems like a no brainer, but we skipped this and we shouldn’t have. We had planned to eat before we went, but we got excited and went straight there. I was starving in the Make Up For Ever line, but I had to wait or risk losing my stuff. If you’re hungry it makes waiting in lines much more difficult! Sometimes you get in a line not realizing how long it will actually take, so it’s best to fill your tummy in preparation! We assumed there would be food options at the venue, but there was almost nothing. Luckily they did allow reentry so we left for lunch and came back.

2. Know your prices

This tip is so important! Most of the vendors do offer a deal, but make sure you know the original prices so make sure it’s really a deal! My sister and I are pretty good at remembering prices, so we could easily figure out what’s a good deal and what’s not worth waiting for. For example Makeup Mansion was selling the LA Girl Pro Conceal for $4.50, when it’s normally $3 or less! It’s easy to get caught up with so many products, but know your prices and look for the best deals. Another example of a great deal- Beauty Blender was offering 6 beauty blenders and a solid cleanser for $60, which is an incredible deal that could be split up amongst a group. Knowing that 1 Beauty Blender is $26CAD would help you to spot that great deal!

3. Carry minimal stuff

One thing I did that worked out well was to just bring a wristlet as a purse. I didn’t want to lug my giant bag around all day, so I just took something very small and only put necessities in it. It not only saved my shoulders, but it made it much easier to get through crowds!

4. Bring cash

If you’re planning on doing some shopping cash is easiest. Some booths only took cash or credit, so you couldn’t use debit. It’s much quicker and makes the line go faster if you use cash.

Of course anyone can go to IMATS, but I highly, highly recommend it to aspiring or new makeup artists. They had amazing prices on starting kit items and I know if/when I build my kit, this is where I’m going to start. Plus there are so many seasoned pros there, I learned a lot just from looking around. Of course, it’s a great day for enthusiasts as well!

 

All in all, it was a great day, we had a lot of fun and I hope to go again next year! Have you been to IMATS? What was your experience like? Let me know in the comments below!

Bye for now!
Chelsey

 

FACE OFF: Battle of the Sponges

Hi Everyone!

Today I have a duel for you…,two products are going to face off to see if one is really worth the extra money. Who will win?!? The Beauty Blender was for a long time the only sponge of it’s kind on the market with little to no competition. Then along came a $5 sponge from Real Techniques that has been challenging it ever since. So today I decided to see first hand if they are in fact dupes. In order to keep it fair, I opened a brand new RT Sponge and the Beauty Blender is fairly new as well. I am going to test foundation, concealer and then a final test of how much product they hold and use that criteria to determine a winner if there is one. I am not biased in any way, each side was given the exact same treatment and the results are fair. I would never manipulate a result one way or another. Okay so let’s get to it! Make your predictions now! No cheating! 🙂

Size and Shape

When wet (as pictured) the sponges are pretty similar in size, but do differ in shape. The Beauty Blender is egg shaped with a pointed end for concealer, while the Real Techniques Sponge features a flat edge as well as a pointed end.

The left side of my face is going to be the Beauty Blender (side with the hair clip) and the right side (no clip) is going to be for the Real Techniques Sponge.

Foundation

Okay so I’m going to start by testing them on foundation. Each side was already clean and moisturized prior to the test. Each side is going to get 1 and a half pumps of Make Up For Ever HD Foundation dotted onto my face from the back of my hand.

Let’s start with the Beauty Blender. One thing I noticed right away when holding both of them is the difference in texture. The Beauty Blender is a very soft sponge, whereas the Real Techniques is much denser. It’s almost like the Beauty Blender is springy-er or something.

Here is what the Beauty Blender side (left) looks like compared to the undone side (right):

Now onto the Real Techniques Sponge (right).

I honestly don’t see a real difference between the two sides here, they look pretty even. The sponges are a bit different in terms of application, I was finding that the RT just needed a little more work to make sure the foundation was blended and even. But for the foundation test, these performed very similar.

Verdict: Tie

Concealer

Now to see if one sponge can come out on top for concealer. For this test I’m using the LA Girl Pro Conceal. I put equal amounts under each eye, blended and this was the result.

I think for this test there is a much clearer winner.

Here is the left side that I used the Beauty Blender for:

It did a very good job and concealed most of the darkness.

Now onto the RT Sponge:

You can still see some of the darkness for this eye, so the coverage is not as good. The differences are very minor though.

Verdict: Beauty Blender

Product Absorption

For the last test I really wanted to see for myself how much product these sponges hold. To do this I took a white sheet of paper and stippled each sponge on half until no more product was being released.

You can see clear differences here. The Beauty Blender definitely holds more water, as it dampened the page more, but the RT Sponge definitely keeps more of your product. I’m sure that if you actually measured the difference between the two it would be miniscule, but it is something to consider, especially if you like expensive face products, as your product will get used up quicker by the Real Techniques Sponge.

Verdict: Beauty Blender

In all the Beauty Blender did win 2/3 tests. However I think that these are both great products and if you weren’t comparing them side by side you likely would never notice a difference. The price is a factor because there is almost a $20 difference, and I think the RT Sponge does an amazing job for only being $5. For this face off I really think it’s personal preference, whatever you are comfortable spending. I think if you purchase either of these, you can’t really go wrong because one is not miles better than the other.

Leave me a comment below if there are any other face offs you would like to see or what you thought of this post!

Bye for now!

Chelsey

October 2014 Favourites

Hi Everyone!

Can you believe October has almost come and gone? I sure can’t, I feel like this school semester just started, but there’s only a month a half left. Craziness. Anyway, enough babbling, let’s get to my favourites for October. I have so much great stuff to share.

Beauty Blender

My first favourite of the month is my Beauty Blender. I didn’t think I would ever buy one of these, but I caved and I’m glad I did. I have been using this almost exclusively for my foundation since I got it and as of right now, I prefer it over a brush. It blends everything so flawlessly without streaking. It’s kind of silly, but part of the reason why I like this is the colour, it’s so bright and fun. I had been using the Real Techniques Miracle Complexion Sponge for many months before this and never had an issue with it, but I haven’t yet compared them side by side to see if there is any difference. Would anyone want to see a side by side comparison? Let me know and I will investigate 🙂

Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer

My next favourite is the Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer. This has become my new holy grail highlighting product. I got this in the shade Chantilly which is the lightest shade and works well to highlight my fair skin. This is on the thicker side, but so creamy. I was using the MAC Pro Longwear in NW15 to highlight before this and I much prefer this. This does a much better job of highlighting, the MAC needs to be a touch lighter to really highlight. I especially love this down the bridge of my nose, it really draws attention to the centre of the face. I don’t see this leaving my routine anytime soon!

Lorac Mega Pro Palette

My next favourite won’t come as a shock as I am obsessed with Lorac eyeshadows! I have been loving my Mega Pro Palette, it has so many options for me to choose from! I can create tons of looks from this, so I haven’t been reaching for much else for the past few weeks.

Make Up For Ever HD Foundation

I cannot put this down. Seriously. I had been wanting this for a while and I finally decided to get it and it’s awesome. I knew I liked it, but after a couple busy makeup-less days I put this on and couldn’t believe how well it evened out my skin. It just looks so natural and it has never gone cakey on me. It just blends seamlessly into my skin. This has what I would call a natural finish, not all matte, but not dewy, the perfect happy medium. I don’t have a bad thing to say about this.

MAC Blue-Brown Pigment

I discovered MAC pigments this month, 1 of which is MAC Blue-Brown. This is so pretty, I love how it changes based on the light, it really brings attention to your eyes. This is really a one ‘shadow’ type of product. I like to use this wet so it doesn’t fall out everywhere and so I get intense colour. You can pack this on the lid and blend it into the crease, if you blend over it it will change to a warm reddish brown and it looks like you added a separate transition or crease shade.

Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector- Opal

My next favourite is another product I resisted buying for a long time, but finally decided to just do it. I can see why this is so popular, it’s such a gorgeous highlighter. As we all know I’m a glow junkie so this is right up my alley- it’s pretty intense. I was using a setting brush for highlight, but this is best with a fan brush so it’s applied a little at a time. This does have glitter in it but it’s not too intense when applied lightly so I don’t mind. It’s such a pretty champagne-gold shade, but not too dark for my fair skin.

MAC Lipstick- Blankety

I have found my perfect nude. This shade is perfect for my skin tone, not too dark or too brown. This has enough pink it in so it doesn’t wash me out, but is still nude enough to wear with darker eye looks. I highly recommend checking this out if you’re looking for the ever so popular 90s lip, but not so dark.

MAC Blush Palette

I have been loving my MAC blush palette this month. It’s so handy to have so many great shades all in one place. In particular I have been loving Cantaloupe, which is a neutral peach shade (bottom right). It’s still peach which I love because it your skin look healthy, but it has some brown undertones so it literally goes with anything.

So there you have it! October has come and (almost) gone and I’m excited to see what will be in my November favourites!

Also, I’m currently working on a series, where I go through different parts of my makeup collection to take a peek at what I have collected. I have already done my blush collection, but what else would you like to see? I love getting your feedback, so answer my poll below!

Bye for now!

Chelsey