Forget taxes - lets think about makeup for a bit! The Easter Bunny was good to me this year -tons of candy and makeup made the start of my week that much better! Not only did I get a gorgeous palette from The Balm, but I also got some beautiful lipsticks as well! Also, as an Easter treat for myself, I hit up Walgreens to buy some of Jane products before they were all gone, and I grabbed some of the Jane Aquaceuticals eyeliners and lipsticks, as well as the new Revlon Colorstay Mineral Finishing powder.
Swatches soon to follow... :)
It's official! Now that Easter has come and gone, the weather can turn to the warmer days that we are all looking for! Although it is another rainy day, I know that warm weather is around the corner (especially since the weatherchannel.com says it is going to be sunny and 70 on Friday!).
For Easter I dug through my closet to find the brightest clothes I had, and went with yellow, turquoise and green - and therefore had to reflect that in my makeup. Using all drugstore brands including Cover Girl, Milani and NYX, I managed to pull together a look that even the Easter Bunny would be proud of!
Face:
Laura Geller Balance 'n Brighten "Light"
Everyday Minerals Multi Tasking Fair Concealer
Laura Geller Blush 'n Brighten "Pink Grapefruit"
Revlon Colorstay Mineral Finishing Powder "Brighten"
Eyes:
Urban Decay Primer Potion
Milani Runway Eyes Fashion Shadow "Glamorous Gems" - yellow on inner corner; Kelly green on lid and on lower lashline.
Cover Girl Eyeshadow "Indigo Impact" - outer corner/"v" into lower lashline
NYX Snow Cone - highlight
Max Factor 2000 Calorie Mascara "Black"
Spring keeps knocking on the door here in Indiana, and then will leave us for either colder weather or rain, so I've been getting a little frustrated with Ms. Mother Nature! This morning I needed something to brighten up the wardrobe from the blah blacks and creams I tend to lead towards when I'm in a "funk", so I decided to do a sparkly look, and what better than some MAC Solar Bits and pigments to help out!
Now, I know there are mixed reviews about the Solar Bits because of their very cumbersome consistency, but I find that using a fingertip and letting the pigments melt into the eyelid really can create a beautiful look. It does take some practice, but I find that you get very little fallout compared to using a brush.
Below are the four eyeshadows I used - MAC Solar Bits "Sun Rays", MAC Paint Pot in "Bare Study", MAC Pigment in "Sunpepper", and NYX Eyeshadow in "Snow Cone".
Face:
Laura Geller's Balance and Brighten "Light"
Everyday Minerals Intense Multitasking Concealer
MAC Mineralize Blush "Merrily"
MAC Beauty Powder "Soft Focus"
Eyes:
Lumene Beauty Base Eye Base - all over eye/lid
MAC Paint Pot "Bare Study" - all over eye/lid
MAC Solar Bits "Sun Ray" - lid and lower lashline
MAC Pigment "Sun Pepper" - outer V and into crease
NYX Eyeshadow "Snow Cone" - brown bone
Black Eyeliner (unknown brand - it had rubbed off, but I think it is Revlon)
Max Factor 2000 Calorie Mascara "Black"
Lips:
Bare Escentuals Natural Lipgloss "Brilliance"
Deals
Nars "O" Dupes (Milani Luminous, Wet 'n Wild Pearlescent Pink, Loreal Front Page Peach and Ulta Afterglow)
8:00 AMSomething I find I am always trying to do is find a good knockoff of a product in a drugstore brand. I posted a few days ago about a good duplicate of the Urban Decay Primer Potion in the Lumene Beauty Base Eye Makeup Base, and now I am going to tackle the infamous Nars O blush.
While going through my collection of blushes, I discovered I have about every possible knockoff available, so I thought I'd line them up against the real deal - Nars.
Wet 'n Wild "Pearlescent Pink" - shimmering pink/coral - more pink than coral with golden shimmers.
Ulta Blush "Afterglow" - shimmering pink with coral/gold sparkles - cooler undertones than Nars O.
Milani "Luminous" - coral blush with golden shimmers and a more golden undertone.
Loreal "Front Page Peach" - pale coral with a hint of pink and very golden shimmers.
From the swatches below you can see the similarities and differences in all the colors. Depending on your skintone, some might work better than others (i.e. darker skintones might want the deeper corals of Ulta Afterglow and Wet 'n Wild Pearlescent Pink). I think that of the four I am comparing to Nars, that Loreal Front Page Peach and Milani Luminous are the best in actual comparison. Loreal has a bit more golden shimmer, and the Milani isn't quite as pigmented as the Nars, but all in all, these are the most similar. Milani's you should be able to find at any of your local drug stores, where Loreal Front Page Peach I had to purchase on Ebay.
Because I just received the Loreal Front Page Peach in the mail yesterday, I had to play around with it and see if I liked the color or not - which I do! Not only is it a great flush, but it has a beautiful glow associated with it. The glow isn't quite as evident below, but this is a beautiful blush!
