I'm still alive!

UGGGHHHH it's been so long since I've posted and I'm sorry! I just got back home for the winter break so I hope to be able to post more. If you don't follow me on Instagram I've started a new makeup challenge for the month of December:

Here are some of the looks I have done so far in order of the above list (I've missed days 12 and 13 but rest assured I'll be back on track tomorrow!)

I will continue to post these and feel free to check them out on Instagram by clicking the button on the left of the page! Give me a like or a follow if you like what you see! xo

Up and Coming

Due to the end of the semester coming up with papers and test dates looming, I will likely not be able to post until next weekend :(

But fear not, I've got some plans in the works! Below are some posts to look forward to in the near future:

• A review on my new Beauty Bakerie lipsticks 

• A review on all the new shades of Kat von D's everlasting liquid lipsticks I have amassed in the past couple weeks (with swatches)

• A holiday makeup look 

• A review on some beauty products I've been trying for the past couple weeks (including TOO COOL FOR SCHOOL - a new brand at Sephora) 

• Hopefully a review on the glitter I ordered from Glitter Injections (haven't received it yet) 

I promise to resurface again! 

xo Shen

Sephora and Lit Cosmetics Makeup Haul!

Last night I got a couple of the other makeup orders I've been waiting on! There are still two more to come but since my patience is limited right now I figured I may as well do a makeup haul with my recent acquisitions (just for clarification I did buy everything here - the only thing sent to me free was the feature colour from Lit Cosmetics because they had a promotion on their site - which is still going last time I checked) :)

In the +Sephora part of my haul I got two new Kat von D everlasting liquid lipsticks in the shades 'Damned' and 'Melancholia', a 'SEPHORA COLLECTION The Perfectionist: Airbrush Sponge' (purple), three free samples (Giorgio Armani perfume not pictured) including the 'ultra gentle daily peel' by Dr. Dennis Gross, and some sugar lip treatments from fresh. 

Below are the swatches for Kat von D's everlasting liquid lipsticks in Damned and Melancholia. I absolutely love Damned however it seems to be the streakiest colour that I have of her liquid lippies. Multiple coats are required (at least for me) to even things out. Also it looks browner in the tube and a bit in the picture but it is the most gorgeous shade of deep cherry, more reddy-purplish for sure (that is totally a scientific term for the colour...cough..for me) and in my opinion it would look great on very pale (insert hand raising emoji here) to deeper skin tones. Melancholia is a brighter pink than I was expecting but it is still lovely, I think it would look especially good on tanned skin tones

For the +Lit Cosmetics side I got 'Goober Grape' glitter in size #3 (top right of the above picture) which came with an application brush (pictured), and 'Constant Craving' was the feature colour that I got free with purchase of any lit kit or 3 colour purchase. Below are some pictures of 'Goober Grape' and 'Constant Craving' as well as some videos of the products (they are GORGEOUS!).

Here are some swatches of the glitter on my arm using the "Clearly Liquid Base". The video isn't in natural light so the colours may not be true but it still gives a good idea on the shimmer factor!

I also got two glitter bases: the "Forever Wear Glitter Base" (a cosmetic adhesive that is waterproof and comes in three colours - pictured is 'almond') and the "Clearly Liquid Glitter Base" (a cosmetic adhesive that is good for all skin types, even sensitive skin) . Directly from the site it says that the "Forever Wear Glitter Base" "is recommended for lip/brow/body and can be used around the eye area but a proper makeup remover should be used", it also claims that it "keeps all loose product adhered to any skin any surface (even under water)"...definitely going to test that one out, underwater photoshoot anyone??. The "Clearly Liquid Glitter Base" although not waterproof also adheres to any skin surface. Both bases also say they prevent cracking, flaking, or floating. This glue can be used for any loose product so if you have glitter from another company this can be used with it. Below is another shot of the glitter bases (these are the 4mL bottles but you can get 30mL ones).

If you want to know how the other sizes of glitter look, check out the glitter lab by Lit Cosmetics either through Instagram or their website (there is a Glitter Lab icon on the home page and I linked the page here) and watch video #8 to see a comparison. 

I was very pleased with Lit Cosmetics, the same day I ordered their products I got a shipping confirmation and my package arrived in less than a week! The shipping/handling is also very reasonable from this company and I will definitely be ordering more from them in the future!

PS. The fur in all my product shots is faux fur! xo

Bloglovin

You can now find me on Bloglovin! Come follow me :)


<a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/14556401/?claim=j4syw6emfn2">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>

Makeup "Blueprints"

Since my makeup orders have been taking longer to ship than I thought, I have been drawing plans for makeup looks to do. I really want to play with colour and go outside of my comfort zone for looks, like graphic liner, not doing a winged liner (which is my go to look), using glitter and different media, and applying makeup on my friend's faces instead of just my own.

These are some of the looks I have planned:

I had my first attempt at graphic liner last night when I created the flame look in the centre of the above picture, I am actually really proud of it for a first attempt and when I have more time between classes I will definitely do more! 

The products I used were:

Eyebrows - NYX cosmetics Jumbo Eye Pencil in Milk for the base and colours created with Kat von D's Mi Vida Loca remix palette (in shades Rewind, Analogue, and Fran)

Eyes - All eyeshadows used were also from the Mi Vida Loca remix palette (in shades Rewind, Harpsichord, Analogue, Fran, and Legend) and the "flame" liner was created using Analogue mixed with a couple drops of Inglot's Duraline and applied using a precision point brush (I think it was from Sephora); I put a bit of Maybelline's Great Lash mascara on and dusted Analogue over top of my lashes (I didn't want my lashes blocking out the liner so I kept them minimal). 

And while on the topic of makeup looks I wanted to include some face charts I did over the summer (below). I loved making the face charts so I'll probably start doing them again and I may even try to create some of the looks sometime.

Play time!

Since this crazy week of school is over I can do more posts over the next few days!

So I got one of many orders of makeup yesterday, this one from Sephora, which included shades of everlasting liquid lipsticks from Kat von D that had recently come back in stock (pictured below).

From top: Lovesick, Susperia, Requiem
Left: Natural light; Right: Flash

I absolutely love these shades! My favourite is a tie between Requiem and Lovesick and since I couldn't resist playing with them I decided to do a makeup look on my beautiful friend who was more than happy to let me borrow her face!

All the eyeshadows used were from Kat von D's Mi Vida Loca Remix palette: Swoon, Löve, Anthem, Muse, Echo, and Harpsichord. The lip colour is Lovesick and I also used Huda Beauty lashes in Sasha.

Below are the shadows swatched on my arm:

From Top: Echo, Muse, Anthem, Löve, Swoon, Harpsichord

Lolita Lip Duo

Recently Kat von D released a lip duo of Lolita - a cult favourite everlasting liquid lipstick (picture above). This duo contained the current Lolita shade available as well as the original shade of Lolita (named Lolita II). The packaging describes Lolita as a "chestnut rose" and Lolita II as a "terra cotta nude". I must say that I'm partial to Lolita II with my skin tone but I love both shades!

This lip duo was travel sized as seen above and to make it easier to gauge size I included my full sized Lolita tube.

As seen below these two shades are quite different, with Lolita having a cooler undertone and definitely more towards the browns while Lolita II is more of a dusty rose/pinky shade with a warmer undertone compared to Lolita. (this is only one coat of both lipsticks)

I simply love the formula of Kat's Everlasting Liquid Lipsticks. They go on smooth, little streaking, very good coverage/opacity, and they are EVERLASTING. I did a quick video showing how durable they are:

One tip, DO NOT try to take the lip colour off directly after applying it..you WILL have a stained face! That being said, once it has dried and been worn for a while it does come off a bit so you will need to re apply at some point during the day but the good thing is that when it comes off it isn't in a smudge or flakes, it just wears off. 

Overall I recommend this lipstick to anyone and everyone, there are colours galore for you to choose from and to suit any skin tone plus they are true to their 'everlasting' name. I own a few colours from this collection and it is only the beginning, I will have every last colour at some point!

What's In My Tackle Box!

My tackle box...forgive the horrible quality pic, once I find my camera's USB cord I can take better photos

I actually had a friend call my makeup case a tackle box and I thought it was hilarious so now I have a makeup tackle box! Heads up, this post is detailed!

So today I ordered some products from Glitter Injections and Beauty Bakerie and am super excited for them to get here! Once they arrive I'll do some swatches and reviews on them but until that day I thought I would tell you guys what I keep in my tackle box and what I think of the products :)

Face:

• Foundation: Bobbi Brown Foundation Stick (Alabaster - 00) and Bobbi Brown Long-Wear Even Finish Foundation SPF 15 (Alabaster - 00). So obviously I'm pale, one of the reasons I went with Bobbi Brown foundation was she had a shade lighter than Porcelain which is the lightest shade that I could normally find for other brands. It's kind of a love/hate relationship with these only because how they look depends on my skin, if I have clear and non-flaky skin both of these go on beautifully and I can build the coverage (especially with the liquid formula) but if I have large problem areas I'm trying to cover they tend to accentuate the dry skin and cake up on pimples or slide around if its really hot out. Neither of these oxidize on my skin like certain other brands so that is also a bonus (I'm not into the whole Oompa Loompa look). So far these are my fav foundations but I am looking into trying the new Makeup Forever HD liquid foundation formula since they have alabaster too.

• Contour: I don't do a lot of contouring unless I'm going out and it still isn't that heavy. I use the Anastasia Beverly Hills Contour Kit (Powder) and I love it! I use a combination of the contour shades when I do contour my face and I use the warmest colour as a bronzer occasionally because I like having a matte bronzer. The highlight shade isn't too powerful but you can build it up and the other two light shades are good for brightening/setting the under eye area as they have never creased on me. The contour shades blend so nicely too! I was worried when I first bought it that it would deposit too much where I first placed it and look patchy but it blended out so smoothly that I couldn't even tell where I'd put the product on initially. 

• Primers: I have two primers, the one I use the most is the Smashbox Photo Finish Oil-free Foundation Primer. I find this primer feels really nice when you apply it, it doesn't have that greasy feel to it and it's a matte finish. Make sure if you do use this that you're moisturizer is fully absorbed cause I have had issues with it 'pilling' on my skin when I apply it right after my moisturizer. The other primer I have is the POREfessional (PRO Balm to minimize the appearance of pores) by benefit. I'm not completely sold on this one, I don't really like the texture of it and it reminds me of liquid latex skin because of the colour. I stopped using it for a while but may give it another go when my Smashbox runs out.

• Powder: I use the Makeup Forever Pro Finish Multi-Use Powder Foundation in the shade Pink Porcelain. This is a really nice powder, good coverage on it's own without being cakey when applied over liquid foundation. It is a bit on the pink side for me but it is pretty close and I avoid buying powder online without first testing it against my skin and I haven't been to a Sephora in a while to change it up. It also hasn't broken me out, and it stays relatively well on my face when its hot outside with minimal creasing. The other type of powder I use on my face is Tarte's Smooth Operator - Amazonian clay pressed finishing powder. This powder feels like velvet!! It is white but so long as you aren't overly generous with the product it won't give you a white face, what it will do is smooth out your complexion and take away any shine like a dream! I love this powder and will be re-buying it :)

• Concealer: The most recent concealer I have fallen in love with is the Ultimate Coverage Concealing Crème by Becca in the shade Banana. I was afraid that this would be way too yellow for me when I first saw it but it really conceals all my spots and their redness extremely well. It does have a tacky texture but I set any product I use with the finishing powder from Tarte after application. It also doesn't seem to slide around on my face much even if its been a few hours since I put it on. 

Eyebrows:

• For my eyebrows I use Anastasia Beverly Hills Dipbrow Pomade in Soft Brown. This has increased my brow game ten fold! I love the staying power of this product and the brush you can get with it really helps with the precise application. It does dry out fast but I use Inglot's Duraline to help reconstitute it when this happens and it's just like new.

Eyes:

• Eyelid Primer: I got the Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion (Anti-Aging) based off of other's reviews online and I am not sorry! This made a huge difference in my eyeshadow application, they went on easier and blend so much better as well as look brighter. It feels a bit greasy when you first put it on but patting it in well makes that go away, also make sure you don't use too much product or it'll crease on your eyelid which is the opposite thing you want. I also will sometimes use NYX Cosmetics Jumbo Eye Pencil in the shade Milk as a base if I want an eyeshadow to be really bright or when putting glitter on my eyelid. 

• Eyeshadow: My go to palette lately has been Kat von D's Mi Vida Loca Remix palette. I got it on a whim a couple weeks after its release (when it was finally back in stock) and I am so glad I did this! The packaging alone is gorgeous but the eyeshadow colours are stunning and they are so pigmented that you don't need to pack on the product to get an intense colour. The shadows blend better than any that I have encountered before and the palette combines both everyday neutrals as well as a bevy of beautifully rich colours in a gradient that is so soul satisfying to me. 

• Mascara: My all time favourite mascara that I have used for years and keep going back to is the Great Lash by Maybelline New York. The formula has been consistent and gives me good volume while not clumping or making my eye itchy. I even tried a different formula for the same brand and I wanted to rip my eyelashes out they were so itchy. 

• False Lashes: I just bought three kinds of false lashes recently by Huda Beauty when they were finally released on Sephora. I got Claudia #6, Scarlett #8, and Sasha #11 and so far I have tried on the Sasha and the Claudia. I really liked the Claudia style since they seemed less intense and I got a lot of compliments on them. The Sasha ones stood out from my face a lot and I'm not comfortable with that just now but I still love the way they look. The Scarlett ones look very flirty and thick so I'm excited to try those sometime soon.

• Liner: I have two different types of liners that I really like. One is the Long-Wear Gel Eyeliner in Black Ink (1) from Bobbi Brown and the other is Kat von D's Tattoo Liner in Trooper. The gel liner goes on really smooth and stays put which is really annoying when you make a mistake but awesome if you are like me and forget you have makeup on and rub your eyes (smudges only slightly). It does dry out fast though so I have to put a couple drops of Duraline in it. The Tattoo liner is my favourite liquid liner I have found yet! It is so precise and easy to maneuver and you can do the thinest of lines with the brush-like tip. The only thing is that it is sometimes difficult to get the product to come out consistently (I just shake it for couple seconds and it seems to help). 

Lips:

• I have quite the collection of lipsticks that is continuously growing. I mainly have Kat von D's lipsticks but that will soon change! I love the colours that Kat von D comes out with and her lipstick formulas are fabulous not to mention the fact that the studded kiss lipsticks smell like creme brûlée! The colours that I have now from the Studded Kiss collection are: Coven, Slayer, Lovecraft, Wolvesmouth, Agatha, and Noble. From the Everlasting Liquid Lipstick collection I have: Jeffree, Bauhau5, LUV, Lolita, and Lolita II. I also have Port from Bite Beauty which is a really rich red and has a cashmere finish but I have to use a lip brush to apply it because the wand was either messed up when I bought it (the seal was on the package so it wasn't a used tube) or it isn't a good design. One thing about the Studded Kiss Lipstick is that it can be quite drying on my lips so be mindful of that if you are concerned about it showing creases in your lips. 

And for cleaning my brushes/blenders daily - or at least I try to be daily... I am human so let's be honest here - I use the Sephora brand Daily brush cleaner (master cleanse). It's a water- and alcohol-free brush cleaner that has sandalwood, barley, and bark extracts and is good for sensitive skin (which I have) and it comes in a handy spray bottle. I really like this cleanser for keeping my brushes cleaner for longer in between deep cleansing washes and it hasn't broken me out since I've started using it. I think it actually has reduced the amount of breakouts I get because it takes the oil and built-up makeup products out of the brush. It does leave a bit of a residue on the brush if you use too much so just watch how many pumps you do (all I do to get rid of residue is dab my brushes on a kleenex repeatedly till its gone). Also I have noticed that the spray pump has become harder to push the longer I use the cleanser and the solution has kind of been seeping out around the pump but I can deal with that because I really love this cleaner.

Lip art

I have had a passion for makeup for as long as I can remember, I used to watch any makeup related show I could find when I was younger. And now that I can be true to my inner makeup addict and binge on all the makeup I want, I get to feel like a kid on Christmas morning playing with all the new toys!

Because makeup is so important to me it will be a focus of this blog (reviews and such), and what really got me thinking about creating this blog was a makeup challenge on Instagram hosted by @thelipswatch (they have a sister account too @dupethat).  Check out their blog too Dupe that! 

I absolutely loved doing the different #lipart every day this past October (only missed the last two days!) and am really sad that I no longer have the challenge to look forward to. I wanted to get my work out to more people to possibly further myself in the makeup community but short of listing about a hundred different hashtags on all of my photos I didn't know what to do. Then it hit me! A beauty blog! Ta Da!

Here are the collages of my lip art for the past 29 days of the #thelipswatchchallenge (you can look at the full size pics by clicking on the Instagram button on the left side of the blog)

 

A new path

Hello everyone! Welcome to my new project I have decided to take on.

This is all very new to me and my posting may be erratic at first so bare with me as I figure this out!

This blog is going to be focused on makeup and beauty and will include reviews, hauls, my monthly favourites, and possibly tutorials if I can stand to see/hear myself on camera.